THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

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Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 
through  Great  Personalities 


COMMISSION  ON  JEWISH 
EDUCATION 

of  the 
UNION  OF  AMERICAN  HEBREW  CONGREGATIONS 

and  the 
CENTRAL  CONFERENCE  OF  AMERICAN  RABBIS 


DAVID  PHILIPSON,  Chairman 
JOSEPH  L.  BARON  DAVID  MARX 

EDWARD  N.  CALISCH  S.  FELIX  MENDELSOHN 

H.  G.  ENELOW  JULIAN  MORGENSTERN 

HARRY  W.  ETTELSON  JOSEPH  RAUCH 

SAMUEL  H.  GOLDENSON         WILLIAM  ROSENAU 
MAX  HELLER  SAMUEL  SCRULMAN 

SAMUEL  KOCH  ABBA  H.  SILVER 

GERSON  B.  LEVI  ABRAM  SIMON 

Louis  L.  MANN  Louis  WITT 

Louis  WOLSEY 

GEORGE  ZEPIN,  Secretary 


UNION  GRADED  SERIES 

DEPARTMENT  OF  SYNAGOGUE  AND  SCHOOL  EXTENSION 


so         A         25         B         uo       c        is  "  D       10      Z       :.      T      o      G 


nr  mi  farad  a  i  at/  nut 


un  U)ti 
Scalr  1:20000000 

"*  —  ^ — -^ 


E  to»|  V>«t  5  of  Qracinrtch        F        O          G          lung  E«t  S  of  Greenwich       H        10 


EUROPE 


ANDTHE 


MEDITERRANEAN  LANDS 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

through 

Great  Personalities 


From 

Jochanan  ben  Zakkai 

through 

Moses  Mendelssohn 


By 

Adele  Bildersee,  M.  A. 

Assistant  Professor  of  English,   Hunter  College   of   the   City   of 

New  York; 
Principal,  Religious  School  of  Temple  Beth-El 


Illustrated 


Cincinnati 
The  Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations 


Copyright  1918 

by 
Union  of  American  Hebrew  Congregations 

Fourteenth  Printing 


PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 


College 
Library 

D5 

US' 


TO  THE  MEMORY 

OF 

MY  FATHER 


PREFACE 

This  little  book,  as  any  one  with  even  the  slightest  knowl- 
edge of  Jewish  history  and  literature  will  readily  see,  is  in 
no  sense  original.  It  is  little  more  than  a  compilation  of  the 
better-known  works  on  Jewish  life  and  letters  in  post- 
Biblical  times.  If,  then,  one  asks  why  such  a  book  should 
be  written  at  all,  the  answer  is  that  the  writer,  in  many 
years  of  experience  as  a  teacher,  has  found  no  work  on  this 
subject  suitable  for  practical  use  in  the  classroom.  The 
books  that  glow  with  all  the  pageantry  of  history  and  with 
the  color  of  a  delightful  style  are  lacking,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  classroom,  in  analysis  of  material  and  system  in 
presenting  facts.  The  books  that  display  scholarly  erudition 
pile  up  details  to  the  bewilderment  of  the  average  pupil. 

Accordingly  in  this  book  the  effort  has  been  to  select 
from  the  pages  of  post-Biblical  Jewish  history  the  outstand- 
ing personalities;  to  present  the  life  and  work  of  each  in 
such  a  way  as  to  illustrate  the  spirit  of  Judaism  in  his  time; 
in  doing  this,  to  analyze  and  systematize  the  complex  and 
abstract  subject-matter  so  that  it  may  offer  the  fewest  diffi- 
culties to  the  pupil's  mind;  and  yet  not  to  sacrifice  the  warm 
human  interest  that  should  transfigure  even  the  barest  out- 
line of  "the  grandest  poem  of  all  time — the  history  of  the 
Jews."  And  throughout  the  history,  from  beginning  to  end, 
it  has  been  the  aim  to  bring  out  clearly  the  guiding  principles 
of  the  Jewish  spirit:  the  Law  by  which  it  lives,  the  hope  of 
the  Future  towards  which  it  works,  and  the  conception  of 
the  universality  of  religion,  in  which  it  follows  in  the  foot- 
steps of  its  most  sublime  prophets. 

With  a  very  deep  sense  of  gratitude  the  writer  acknowl- 
edges her  obligation  to  the  Reverend  Dr.  Samuel  Schulman 


IX 


x  Preface 

for  the  helpful  criticism  and  invaluable  suggestions,  without 
which  this  undertaking  would  not  have  been  possible.  Her 
thanks  are  also  due  to  the  Board  of  Editors  of  the  Union 
of  American  Hebrew  Congregations  and  the  Central  Con- 
ference of  American  Rabbis  for  giving  this  work,  through 
their  careful  revision  of  the  manuscript,  the  benefit  of  their 
own  great  knowledge  of  Jewish  history  and  Jewish  litera- 
ture. For  valuable  bibliographical  suggestions  she  is  in- 
debted to  the  librarians  in  the  Jewish  Literature  Room  of 
the  New  York  Public  Library. 

New  York,  March,  1918. 

ADELE  BILDERSEE. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Preface  ix 

List  of   Illustrations xiii 

Bibliography     282 

Index    285 

I.     Jochanan  Ben  Zakkai    1 

II.     Akiba 10 

III.  Rabbi    Meir    19 

IV.  Judah   Ha-Nasi 26 

V.     The  Makers  of  the  Talmud   35 

VI.     Anan  Ben  David  51 

/VII.     Saadia     62 

VIII.     Chasdai  Ibn  Shaprut 67 

IX.     Solomon   Ibn    Gabirol 74 

X.     Bachya    Ibn    Pakuda 84 

XI.     Judah   Halevi   90 

XII.     Abraham   Ibn   Ezra 102 

XIII.  Moses    Maimonides 109 

XIV.  Nachmanides     126 

XV.     Rashi 137 

XVI.     Meir   of   Rothenburg. 150 

XVII.     Joseph  Albo   170 

XVIII.    Isaac   Abravanel 183 

XIX.     Joseph  Caro 205 

XX.     Isaac    Luria    217 

XXI.     Sabbatai  Zevi  and  Other   False  Messiahs 223 

XXII.     Manasseh    Ben    Israel 233 

XXIII.  Uriel  Da  Costa  and   Baruch   Spinoza 247 

XXIV.  Moses  Mendelssohn 259 


XI 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Coin   of   Vespasian,   commemorating   the   capture   of   Jerusalem. 

(Bust  of  Vespasian.     Captive  Jewess) 3 

Coin  of  Titus,  struck  in  Judea.     (Bust  of  Titus.     Victory  writing 

on  a  shield) 5 

Rabbi  Akiba.     (From  the  Mantua  Hagada,  1560.) 17 

Page  of  Talmud.      (Edition   Vienna,    1860-1873) 33 

Moses    Maimonides 110 

Illuminated  page  from  the  "Yad  Hachazaka"  of  Moses  Maimon- 
ides.    (15th  century) 118 

The  Rashi  Chapel  in  Worms 142 

Censored  page  from  "Ikkarim"  of  Joseph  Albo.     (Venice,  1521)  176 
Interior  of   the   Church   of   Santa   Maria  La  Blanca  in   Toledo. 

(Formerly    a    Synagogue) 193 

Manasseh    ben    Israel — Rembrandt 236 

Interior    Sephardic   Synagogue   at    Amsterdam — Picart 246 

Spinoza — Ernest  Bruce  Harwell    252 

Moses    Mendelssohn 261 

MAP 
Europe  and  the  Mediterranean  Lands  about  1190 Frontispiece 


JEWISH  POST-BIBLICAL  HISTORY 

i. 

JOCHANAN  BEN  ZAKKAI. 

The  year  70  of  the  present  era  saw  the  capital  city  of 
Jerusalem  a  smoking  ruin,  the  Temple  a  heap  of  ashes. 
The  Fate  Those  Jews  who  had  not  laid  down  their  lives 
of  the  jews  for  their  country  in  the  unequal  struggle  with 

after  the  .,_,,. 

Fall  of  the    mighty    armies    of    Rome,    lived    to   be    the 

Jerusalem.  victims  of  an  even  unhappier  fate.  Many  were 
massacred  in  the  burning  and  pillage  that  followed  the  fall 
of  the  city.  Many  more  were  driven  off  to  be  sold  in  the 
slave  markets  of  the  world  or  to  toil  for  Roman  masters 
in  unwholesome  mines.  Some  died  the  prey  of  wild  beasts 
or  of  gladiators  in  Roman  amphitheatres.  The  once  beauti- 
ful country  of  Judea  lay  desolate,  almost  without  inhabi- 
tants. Now  the  conquerors  divided  it  into  lots  to  be  sold 
to  the  highest  bidder  or  to  be  given  as  the  spoil  of  war  to 
the  Roman  soldiers. 

Throughout  the  world  the  Jews  were  in  despair.     The 

great    Jewish   communities    in    Syria   and   Persia,   in   Egypt 

and  in  Babylon,  the  Jews  in  Rome  and  in  Europe 

The    Effect  •««••• 

on  the  jews  generally,  who,  until  now,  had  turned  reverently 
throughout  for  instruction  and  guidance  to  Jerusalem,  to 

the    World. 

the  Temple,  were  overwhelmed  with  grief.  The 
Sanhedrin,  which  had  taught  the  principles  of  Judaism  to 
all  these  scattered  sons  of  Israel,  had  vanished  with  the 
fall  of  the  Holy  City.  Nation,  Temple,  Sanhedrin  gone, 
what  was  to  become  of  Jews  and  Judaism? 


2  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Had  the  Jews  been  only  a  nation,  like  Assyria  and 
Carthage,  like  these  mighty  peoples  they  would  have  been 
Israel's  swept  away.  Had  Judaism  had  no  great  mes- 

Faith  in  its  sage  for  the  world,  had  its  mission  been  al- 
ready accomplished,  there  would  have  been  no 
living  spirit  to  carry  on  the  ancient  faith  after  this  terrible 
catastrophe.  But  Israel  had  not  only  proud  and  tender 
memories  of  its  glorious  past;  it  had  a  passionate  faith  in 
its  vision  of  the  future.  And  there  were  at  this  critical 
period  men  who  had  the  foresight  to  see,  above  the  raging 
storm  that  swept  their  time,  the  star  of  this  promise;  who 
had  the  devoted  courage  to  give  their  lives  to  the  conse- 
crated work  of  carrying  on  the  Word  of  God  to  coming 
generations. 

Foremost  among  these  was  Jochanan  ben  Zakkai.  He 
had  been  a  disciple  of  Hillel,  and  the  gentle  sage  had 
Jochanan  valued  so  highly  the  character  and  the  ability 
ben  Zakkai.  of  h[s  young  pupil  that  he  had  called  him, 
prophetically,  "Father  of  Wisdom"  and  "Father  of  the 
Coming  Generation."  And  indeed  Hillel's  love  of  peace  and 
his  devotion  to  study  showed  his  disciple  the  way  to  fol- 
low. In  Jerusalem,  in  the  happier  days  before  the  fall, 
Jochanan  had  sat  among  the  learned  in  council  in  the  San- 
hedrin,  and  had  taught  tirelessly  in  the  shadow  of  the 
Temple  all  those  who  sought  knowledge.  Then  had  come 
the  stormy  days  of  revolt  against  Rome;  and  Jochanan, 
with  his  wise  insight  into  the  true  strong  places  of  his 
religion,  had  counseled  peace.  Israel  had  a  far  different 
task,  he  knew,  from  that  of  opposing  violence  to  violence 
and  combating  Rome  with  force  of  arms.  But  in  spite  of 
the  honor  in  which  the  people  held  him,  they  had  not 
listened  to  him.  With  ever  greater  horror  he  had  seen  the 
inevitable  Roman  victory  drawing  nearer.  Nearer  came 
the  day  when  holy  city  and  sacred  Temple  would  be  lost. 
And,  Zion  gone,  whence  should  come  the  Word  of  God? 


Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  3 

That  was  the  question  Rabbi  Jochanan  pondered  while  the 
battering  rams  of  the  Romans  were  knocking  at  the  gate. 
And  to  the  wise  teacher  the  answer  had  come  that  a  refuge 
must  be  established  for  the  Law;  a  place  where  men  could 
think  and  teach  must  be  found  for  the  Word  of  God. 

To  leave  Jerusalem,  however,  was  difficult.  The  hot- 
headed Zealots  kept  a  suspicious  watch,  especially  on  those 
A  Refuge  wno  were  known  to  be  of  the  peace  party, 
for  the  Legend  tells  us  that  out  of  this  difficulty,  too, 

the  rabbi  found  a  way.  One  evening,  at  sunset, 
a  coffin  was  carried  to  the  city  gate.  The  wary  sentinels 
had  misgivings  as  to  whether  they  should  let  even  a  funeral 
train  pass  through.  They  threatened,  it  is  said,  to  run 
their  swords  through  the  coffin,  so  that  they  might  be  sure 
it  harbored  no  living  traitor.  But  the  faithful  friends  of 
Rabbi  Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  cried  out  in  horror  against 
such  an  indignity  to  their  honored  burden,  and  the  coffin 
was  permitted  to  pass  on  unmolested.  In  it  was  Rabbi 
Jochanan,  not  dead  but  alive.  Safely  arrived  without  the 
city  walls,  he  hastened  to  the  Roman  camp,  to  Vespasian. 


Coin  of  Vespasian,  commemorating  the  capture  of  Jerusalem. 
(Bust  of  Vespasian.     Captive  Jewess.) 

The  general  welcomed  the  teacher,  whom  he  had  heard  of 
as  an  advocate  of  peace,  and  listened  favorably  to  his  peti- 
tion. All  the  rabbi  asked  ,was  the  privilege  of  settling  in 
the  little  town  of  Jamnia,  there  to  exercise  his  profession 
of  teaching.  The  Roman  freely  granted  the  modest  peti- 
tion, not  for  a  moment  suspecting  that  thereby  he  was 


4  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

insuring  continued  life  to  the  people  whom  he  sought  to 
crush. 

At  Jamnia,  a  village  near  the  Mediterranean  not  far 
from  Joppe,  to  which  clung  memories  of  the  heroic  days 
The  of  the  Maccabees,  Jochanan,  with  his  disciples, 

••Vineyard"  established  their  school.  And  here  came  the 
at  jamma.  studious  in  great  numbers ;  for  the  rabbi's  learn- 
ing was  famous,  his  method  of  teaching  was  clear  and  simple, 
and  his  manner  was  modest,  endearing  him  to  the  hearts  of 
his  pupils.  "If  you  have  learned  much,  do  not  boast  of  it; 
for  that  purpose  were  you  created,"  he  admonished  his 
scholars.  A  kind  heart  seemed  to  him  the  noblest  attribute 
of  human  nature.  "What  should  a  man  endeavor  most 
eagerly  to  attain?"  he  once  asked  his  disciples.  One  sug- 
gested a  genial  manner;  another,  a  loyal  friend;  the  third, 
a  good  neighbor;  the  fourth,  prudence  and  foresight;  and 
the  fifth,  Eleazar,  the  rabbi's  most  promising  pupil,  a  good 
heart.  The  last  scholar  had  spoken  the  mind  of  the  master, 
for  the  rabbi  said,  "I  consider  Rabbi  Eleazar's  judgment 
best,  for  in  his  answer  all  of  yours  are  included." 

Into   this   pleasant   community    of   teacher   and   scholars 

came  at  last  the  sad  tidings  that  Jerusalem  had  fallen,  that 

the   Temple  was   in   flames.     Jochanan   and   his 

Instead    of  J 

the  Temple,  disciples  mourned  as  bitterly  as  though  they 
the  word  ha(j  iost  a  iove(j  one  through  death.  But  the 

Oi    Ciod.  ^  m 

great  teacher  did  not  abandon  himself  to  inactive 
grief.  He  realized  that  Judaism  was  not  bound  up  with 
the  Temple,  to  perish  with  it.  He  taught  the  people  that, 
although  the  service  of  sacrifice  was  at  an  end  with  the 
fall  of  the  Temple,  the  service  of  love,  the  practice  of 
deeds  of  loving-kindness,  would  take  the  place  of  the 
burnt-offerings.  Was  it  not  written,  "Mercy  I  desire,  not 
sacrifice?"  The  Word  of  God  they  still  had— they  would 
always  have.  To  foster  it  should  be  their  work  hence- 
forward. Thus  did  Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  share  the  vision 


Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  5 

of  the  prophets  of  a  Judaism  that  should  be  a  world- 
religion,  not  inseparably  associated  with  any  one  place, 
however  sacred,  but  spread  freely  over  the  whole  earth. 
Comforted  and  inspired  by  him,  the  people  faced  the  future 
more  hopefully.  The  Temple  gone,  he  showed  them  that 
the  Law  should  take  its  place. 


Com  of  Titus,  struck  in  Judea.     (Bust  of  Titus. 
Victory  writing  on  a  shield.) 

To  him,  too,  after  the  enemy  had  left  the  country,  came 

members  of  the  Sanhedrin.     And  Rabbi  Jochanan   formed 

at  Jamnia  a  sort  of  reconstructed  Sanhedrin,  with 

A  Religious  . 

Center  for      much    of    the   authority   and   the   power   of    the 
the  jews  of    eariier    council    in    Jerusalem.      By    this    means 

the  World.         _  t 

Jamnia  became  the  new  religious  center  of  the 
Jewish  people.  To  it  they  now  turned,  as  in  the  past 
they  had  to  Jerusalem,  for  instruction  in  the  Law,  for 
guidance  in  perplexity.  And  in  those  troubled  days  many 
were  the  puzzling  problems  that  the  wise  men  in  Jamnia 
had  to  solve.  The  Jews  were  trying  to  live  their  lives 
under  conditions  very  different  from  those  that  had  existed 
while  the  Temple  still  stood  and  Judea  was  a  nation.  The 
fall  of  the  Temple  made  inevitable  many  new  adjustments, 
many  modifications  of  old,  time-honored  laws.  Such 
changes  as  were  necessary,  Rabbi  Jochanan  made  reverently, 
loyally  clinging  to  everything  that  should  keep  sacred  the 
memory  of  the  beautiful  Temple  and  all  that  it  stood  for. 
In  this  way  Jochanan  and  his  associates  at  Jamnia  became 
the  acknowledged  spiritual  leaders  of  the  Jews  throughout 


6  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

the  world,  who  willingly  followed  their  decisions.  And  in 
this  way,  scattered  though  they  were,  the  Jews  of  the 
world  were  united  in  thought  and  feeling — not  a  nation  any 
longer,  it  is  true,  but  a  congregation — the  congregation  of 
Israel. 

This  unity  of  the  dispersed  Jews,  so  important,  so  well- 
nigh  indispensable  to  the  preservation  of  Judaism  in  times 
as  dangerous  as  these,  was  one  of  the  greatest 
achievements  of  Rabbi  Jochanan.  His  other  great 
service  to  Judaism  was  the  fresh  interest  that  he 
aroused  in  his  school  at  Jamnia  in  the  study  and  development 
of  the  Law.  His  knowledge  included  the  whole  range  of 
Jewish  learning.  He  knew  well,  not  only  the  Bible  itself,  but 
also  all  that  generations  of  teachers  had  said  in  explaining  its 
verses  and  in  interpreting  them  so  as  to  make  them  a  vital  force 
in  the  life  of  each  new  period.  He  knew  all  the  legal  deci- 
sions of  the  Sanhedrin,  all  the  modifications  of  old  laws 
that  changing  conditions  had  necessitated.  And  all  these 
details,  all  the  commands,  prohibitions,  modifications,  you 
must  know,  were  unwritten,  were  handed  by  word  of  mouth 
from  generation  to  generation,  until  they  became  a  vast 
hoard  of  tradition  treasured  up  in  minds  like  that  of  Rabbi 
Jochanan.  As  he  had  learned  them  from  Hillel,  so  he  taught 
them  to  his  pupils  and  pointed  out  to  them  how  all  were 
drawn  from  the  written  word  in  the  Bible.  He  showed 
them  thus  how  they  themselves  could  apply  the  Law,  as 
new  conditions  arose,  and  as  changes  became  necessary. 
Nor  did  he  confine  his  teaching  to  the  Law  of  Moses 
and  to  the  customs  that  tradition  connected  with  it.  He 
other  lectured,  also,  on  the  writings  of  the  prophets  and 

Activities.  on  the  history  of  the  Jewish  nation.  He  ex- 
amined with  his  scholars  the  great  moral  truths  of  Judaism 
and  taught  them  its  noblest  lessons. 

Through  all  his  teaching  shone  his  character.     Like  his 


Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  7 

master  Hillel,  he  was  a  man  of  peace.  No  iron  tool  was 
MM  of  to  be  used  in  erecting  an  altar,  he  was  fond  of 
Peace.  explaining,  because  iron  is  the  symbol  of  war, 

the  material  of  the  sword  and  the  spear.  The  altar,  on  the 
contrary,  is  the  symbol  of  peace  and  atonement.  Religion's 
mission  is  peace.  Peace  alone  furthers  the  salvation  of 
man.  It  was  these  principles  that  had  made  him  an  ad- 
vocate of  peace  in  Jerusalem  before  the  fall.  It  was  this 
gentle  and  kindly  disposition  that  made  him,  like  Hillel, 
friendly  with  the  heathen,  whom  the  harsher  Zealots 
despised. 

As  inspiring  as  his  life  had  been,  was  the  death  of 
Jochanan  ben  Zakkai.  His  scholars,  standing  at  his  bed- 
The  Death  s^e»  were  astounded  to  find  their  courageous 
of  the  master  depressed  in  the  hour  of  death.  "Light 

Righteous.          of    Israel>»    they    cried>    «why    d(>   you    weep?" 

"Not  on  account  of  death  do  I  fear,"  answered  the  dying 
sage,  "but  because  of  having  to  appear  before  the  Eternal 
Judge,  whose  righteousness  is  incorruptible." 

Before  he  died,  he  blessed  his  disciples  with  these  words : 
"May  the  fear  of  God  influence  your  actions  as  much  as 
the  fear  of  man." 

"What!"  exclaimed  the  pupils  doubtingly.  "Fear  God 
only  as  we  fear  His  creatures?" 

"Even  so,"  was  the  reply.  "You  fear  to  do  wrong  in 
the  presence  of  man.  You  are  always  in  the  presence  of 
God.  Therefore,  fear  Him  as  you  fear  your  neighbors." 

The  death  of  the  founder  of  the  school  at  Jamnia  was 
a  sad  blow.  The  remarkable  titles  given  to  the  master  by 
The  his  disciples  in  the  solemn  conversation  just  be- 

Paiestinian  fore  his  death — Light  of  Israel,  Pillar  of  the 
Sanctuary,  Strong  Hammer — show  the  veneration 
in  which  he  was  held.  Yet  the  death  of  the  teacher  did 
not  interrupt  the  study  of  the  Law.  From  Jamnia  went 
out  new  teachers.  Other  schools  were  established  through- 


8  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

out  Palestine,  spreading  the  good  work.  These  academies 
differed  in  many  respects  from  the  colleges  of  to-day. 
Usually  they  were  housed  in  no  stately  buildings:  the 
pupils  met  their  master  in  some  unpretentious  dwelling. 
The  teachers  in  these  early  academies  did  not  receive  a 
salary.  To  receive  payment  for  instruction  was  considered 
wrong.  A  certain  Rabbi  Zadok  expressed  the  attitude  of 
all  the  teachers  when  he  said:  "Make  not  the  study  of  the 
Law  a  crown  for  self-aggrandizement.  Neither  make  it  a 
hatchet  with  which  to  hew,  for  Hillel  used  to  say,  'He  who 
employs  the  crown  of  learning  as  a  source  of  emolument, 
deprives  himself  of  life'."  So  the  instruction  was  entirely 
a  labor  of  love,  and  was  given,  free  of  charge,  to  all  who 
were  willing  to  learn.  And  the  students  who  came,  eager 
for  knowledge,  were  of  all  ages.  They  were  not  placed  in 
graded  classes;  in  fact,  there  was  no  prescribed  course  of 
study  leading  to  a  formal  graduation.  These  scholars  de- 
voted all  the  years  of  their  life  to  the  pursuit  of  knowledge. 
In  order  that  this  study  might  not  interfere,  however,  with 
other  necessary  activities,  the  academies  were  not  in  session 
at  times  of  sowing  and  reaping;  and  at  all  other  times,  the 
principal  hours  of  instruction  were  in  the  morning  and  the 
evening.  Nor  was  the  method  of  teaching  like  our  method 
to-day.  Instructors  did  not  deliver  lectures.  Instead,  a 
subject  was  announced,  and  teachers  and  pupils  would  dis- 
cuss it  together.  In  this  way  they  would  arrive  at  a 
satisfactory  interpretation  of  difficult  passages  of  Scripture, 
considering  all  traditional  explanations  and  adding  their 
own  to  the  accumulating  store.  It  was  in  schools  such  as 
this,  in  Jerusalem,  that  Hillel  had  studied,  counting  no 
suffering  too  great  a  fee  to  pay  for  the  priceless  boon  of 
learning.  Then  Hillel  himself  had  taught  there,  bringing 
the  school  to  its  greatest  prominence.  It  was  a  school 
such  as  this  that  Rabbi  Jochanan  had  established  at  Jamnia. 
To  this  task  of  teaching  the  Law  and  deriving  from  it 


Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  9 

new  rulings  to  meet  new  needs,  a  long  line  of  men  of 
The  Tannaim-  learning  devoted  themselves.  These  teachers  we 
Teachers  of  call  Tannaim;  indeed  the  name  tanna  is  derived 
from  an  Aramaic  word  which  means  to  teach. 
These  scholars  carried  on  the  unbroken  chain  of  tradition, 
pursuing  the  work  of  their  great  predecessor  with  self- 
sacrificing  enthusiasm.  However  terrifying  wars  and  per- 
secutions were,  the  teachers  went  on  with  this  task,  so 
that  even  in  the  darkness  of  exile  the  Word  of  God  should 
still  be  "a  lamp  unto  their  feet,  and  a  light  unto  their 
path." 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Bacher :     Agada  d.  Tannaiten,  pp.  25-46. 

Graetz :     Geschichte,  VoL  IV,  p.  11  ff. 

Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  II,  pp.  321-33. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia :     Vol.  VII,  p.  214,  Article  Johanan  ben  Zakkai, 

Mielziner,  M.:    Introduction  to  the  Talmud,  p.  7. 

Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  53-66. 


IL 

AKIBA. 

And  so  the  Jews,  in  Palestine  and  throughout  the  lands 
where  they  were  exiled,  picked  up  again  the  threads  of  life, 
Quiet  after  sadly  scattered  and  tangled,  but  not  broken,  and 
the  storm.  wove  anew  the  old  pattern  of  faith  set  them  by 
the  divine  Task-Master.  Widely  separated  they  were;  poor, 
most  of  them,  and  despised  by  their  conquerors:  but  the 
thought  of  their  schools,  where  the  sages  were  carrying  on 
their  religious  and  literary  labors  with  dignity  and  devotion, 
kept  up  their  self-esteem  and  fortified  their  spirit.  The 
Sanhedrin  united  them  all  in  a  strong  sense  of  the  race  and 
the  religion  that  were  theirs  in  common,  in  Rome  as  in 
Jerusalem.  And  Alexandria  as  well  as  Palestine  revered 
the  spiritual  leader  who  sat  with  his  colleagues  in  Jamnia, 
the  Nasi,  the  Prince,  as  the  Jews  called  him  in  loving 
loyalty.  Thus  they  lived  in  comparative  peace  for  some 
years  after  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 

Their  quiet,  however,  was  again  broken  by  persecution 
and  oppression.  Against  the  cruelties  of  Trajan  and 
clouds  Hadrian  the  Jews  of  the  Roman  provinces  rose 

Again.  jn  rebellion.  The  revolt  spread  to  Palestine. 

So  vigorous  was  the  uprising  that  Hadrian  turned  to  the 
problem  of  this  dogged,  freedom-loving  race,  and  resolved 
to  crush  it  once  for  all  into  complete  submission.  Like 
Antiochus,  he  determined  to  blot  out  this  stubborn  Jewish 

10 


Akiba  11 

religion:  he  would  make  Jerusalem  a  pagan  city,  and  where 
the  holy  Temple  had  stood  he  would  rear  a  heathen  shrine. 
But  the  Jewish  people,  instead  of  being  cowed  by  the 
menace  of  Rome,  flared  up  in  a  passion  of  desperate  re- 
bellion that  taxed  even  Hadrian's  mighty  powers.  For 
years,  in  secret  discontent,  they  had  been  storing  arms, 
and  now,  in  132,  they  faced  Hadrian,  as,  almost  seventy 
years  earlier,  they  had  faced  Titus. 

In  the  daring  young  soldier  who  came  forward  to  lead 
them  in  this  crisis,  the  Jews  thought  they  had  at  last  found 
Bar  Cochba.  a  deliverer.  In  him  they  saw  the  redeemer  who 
"Son^of  a  should  free  them  from  the  intolerable  tyranny 
of  Rome  and  restore  the  kingdom  of  Israel. 
Many  of  the  older  and  more  sober  of  the  nation  hesitated 
and  counseled  prudence,  but  the  people  hailed  as  Bar 
Cochba,*  "Son  of  a  Star,"  this  youth  who  inspired  them 
with  his  splendid  height  and  strength,  his  personal  courage 
and  soldierly  ability.  Even  the  great  teacher,  Rabbi  Akiba, 
was  convinced  that  here  was  the  King,  the  Messiah. 
Around  Bar  Cochba's  flag  gathered  half  a  million  men. 
Against  them  Hadrian  sent  his  legions — only  to  have  them 
shattered  and  driven  back.  Like  Judah  the  Maccabee, 
Bar  Cochba  led  his  enthusiastic  army  from  victory  to 
victory;  fifty  fortresses  fell  into  his  hands  and  a  thousand 
villages.  He  stood  in  Jerusalem  itself.  Confident  of  the 
outcome  of  the  war,  he  had  coins,  stamped  with  "For  the 
Freedom  of  Israel,"  struck  to  commemorate  his  victory. 

Then  Hadrian,  seriously  alarmed,  summoned  from  dis- 
tant Britain  his  most  able  general,  Julius  Severus.  With 
After  vie-  the  methods  of  Vespasian  and  Titus,  Severus 
(cry.  Defeat  avoided  open  combat  with  the  impetuous  Jewish 
soldiers,  resorting  to  siege  rather  than  to  attack.  One 

*  "There  shall  come  a  star  (kokab)  out  of  Jacob  who  shall 
smite  the  corners  of  Moab  and  destroy  all  the  children  of  Seth." 
Numbers  XXIV:17. 


12  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

after  the  other,  the  fortresses  guarding  the  frontier  capitu- 
lated to  him.  At  last  Bethar,  the  strongest,  alone  remained. 
This  fort  Bar  Cochba  held  for  a  year  with  stubborn  re- 
sistance, desperately  trying  to  cut  his  way  through  the 
besieging  army.  Against  so  brave  an  army  with  so  brave 
a  leader  even  the  finest  soldiers  of  the  age  were  helpless. 
But  within  the  walls  of  the  beleaguered  city  there  were 
accomplices  of  the  enemy — starvation  and  treason.  Through 
a  subterranean  passage,  some  Samaritans,  it  is  said,  led 
the  Romans  into  the  fortress.  Then  followed  a  carnage  so 
awful  that  the  Roman  horses,  we  are  told,  waded  to  their 
nostrils  in  blood.  More  than  a  half  million  were  slain  by 
the  sword,  and  thousands  more  perished  by  fire  and  starva- 
tion. Yet  so  great  were  the  Roman  losses  that  Hadrian, 
in  his  message  to  the  Roman  senate,  is  reported  to  have 
omitted  the  usual  formula,  "I  and  the  army  are  well."  It 
was  in  the  year  135  that  Bethar  fell,  on  the  ninth  of  Ab, 
Jewish  tradition  tells  us,  the  day  of  mourning  for  the 
destruction  of  the  Temple. 

Bar  Cochba  did  not  survive  the  fall  of  the  city.  The 
embittered  people,  in  their  despair,  called  him  now  Bar 
Bar  Coziba,  Coziba,  Son  of  a  Falsehood,  or  the  Deceiver, 

Son    of   a 

Lie."  because    he   had    disappointed   their    high    hopes. 

And  now  Judea  was  again  a  dreary  wilderness.  Over 
what  had  been  Jerusalem  the  ploughshare  was  passed,  and 
upon  the  old  foundations  a  Roman  city  arose.  On  the 
Temple  mount  was  erected  a  shrine  to  Jupiter.  Entrance 
into  the  sacred  city  was  forbidden  Jews  on  pain  of  death. 
Only  on  the  anniversary  of  the  destruction  of  the  Temple, 
might  they,  on  payment  of  a  tax,  approach  Zion  and  mourn 
its  fallen  glory.  Now  began,  indeed,  an  era  of  the  most 
dire  persecution.  Hadrian,  shrewder  than  Vespasian,  re- 
alized that  the  strength  of  the  Jews  lay  in  their  religion. 
Crush  that,  and  their  resistance  would  die  out.  In  the 
schools,  the  teachers,  the  scholars,  he  saw  the  humble  in- 


Akiba  13 

struments  of  this  power,  and  against  these,  accordingly,  he 
directed  his  severest  attacks.  Like  Antiochus,  he  forbade 
the  study  of  the  Law,  and  punished  mercilessly  those  who 
tried  to  evade  his  decree.  Those  teachers  who  dared  still 
to  conduct  schools  were  wrapped  in  the  scrolls  of  their 
Law  and  set  afire,  or  were  torn  to  a  slow  death  with 
sharp  iron  prongs.  Every  horrible  torture  that  the  most 
barbarous  ingenuity  could  devise  was  used  to  break  the 
spirit  of  Jewish  resistance.  Every  Jewish  observance  was 
prohibited.  Jews  were  cruelly  flogged  because  they  waved 
palm  branches  at  the  Succoth  festival;  they  were  crucified 
because  they  ate  unleavened  bread  at  the  Passover  table. 

There  were  many  who  held  nothing — comfort,  safety, 
life  itself — so  dear  as  the  preservation  of  their  religion. 
Akiba  the  Among  them  was  Rabbi  Akiba.  It  was  not 
Patriot.  unknown  to  the  Roman  conqueroi  that  Akiba  had 

greeted  Bar  Cochba  as  the  King,  the  Messiah,  the  Deliverer, 
and  had  urged  on,  with  all  his  tremendous  influence,  the 
revolt  against  Rome. 

It  was  not  only  on  account  of  his  ardent  patriotism,  how- 
ever, that  the  Jews  loved  and  revered  Akiba ;  he  was  es- 
The  pecially  dear  to  them  because  he  was  one  of  the 

Shepherd-  ••%«••« 

Scholar.  people,  poor,  of  lowly  parentage.  Tradition  tells 
us  that  he  had  grown  up  ignorant,  a  humble  shepherd  tend- 
ing the  flocks  of  a  rich  citizen  of  Jerusalem.  Then  one  day, 
he  saw  Rachel,  the  lovely  daughter  of  his  master,  and  the 
poor  shepherd  dared  raise  his  eyes  to  the  beautiful  heiress. 
But  she  would  become  his  wife  only  if  he  gained  knowledge; 
and  so,  at  her  urging,  he  set  himself  to  study.  For  love  of 
his  Rachel,  he  toiled  as  did  Jacob  of  old.  And  while  he 
was  attending  the  lectures  of  the  most  famous  rabbis  in 
Palestine,  she,  cast  off  by  her  proud  father  because  of  her 
love  for  the  ignorant  shepherd,  endured  privation,  actual 
want.  The  brave  wife  stood  faithfully  by  her  plodding 
husband,  sacrificing  even  her  wealth  of  hair — so  the  story 


14  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

goes — that  it  might  bring  money  to  help  him.  "Bread  with 
salt  for  hunger,  water  for  thirst,  and  a  hard  board  for  bed" 
— this  was  the  price  at  which  wisdom  was  won.  But  won 
it  was,  and  at  last  Akiba  was  recognized  as  the  greatest 
teacher  of  his  time.  He  returned  now  to  Jerusalem,  escorted 
by  an  enthusiastic  following  of  admiring  scholars.  When 
Rachel,  humbly  clad,  and  haggard  with  want  and  toil,  tried 
to  reach  his  side,  several  of  his  pupils  thought  the  woman 
presumptuous  and  sought  to  prevent  her.  But  the  mastel 
cried,  "For  what  I  am  and  for  what  you  are,  to  this  noble 
woman  the  thanks  are  due." 

To   this    honored   teacher   the   proud    father-in-law    was 

glad  to  give  a  cordial  welcome.     The  days  of  hardship  were 

over.     But  the   riches   and  the  honor  that  now 

"His  Delight    came    to    Akiba    did    not    change    his    attitude 

is  in  the  Law  «»•»•»»  r  i  •  u 

of  the  Lord."  towards  life.  Modesty  was  a  favorite  theme  with 
him.  "Take  thy  place  a  few  seats  below  thy 
rank  until  thou  art  bidden  to  take  a  higher  place;  for  it  is 
better  that  they  should  say  to  thee  'Come  up  higher'  than 
that  they  should  bid  thee  'Go  down  lower'."  Wealth  he 
thought  of  only  as  laying  upon  him  obligations  for  doing 
good.  He  who  had  in  his  poverty  shared  with  those  still 
poorer  the  bundle  of  straw  that  he  had  used  for  a  bed, 
the  hard  crust  that  had  been  his  daily  fare,  now  shared  with 
others  his  plenty.  Above  all  earthly  wealth  and  pleasure  he 
still  held  the  study  of  the  Law  of  God.  With  such  single- 
mindedness  did  he  meditate  upon  it  that  one  Seder  night, 
our  Haggadah  tells  us,  he  discussed  the  departure  from 
Egypt  the  whole  night  through,  until  his  disciples  came  to 
tell  him  that  it  was  time  for  the  morning  prayer.  And 
zealous  as  was  his  learning,  so  deep  was  his  faith  in  God. 
"What  God  doeth,  He  doeth  for  the  best"  was  his  favorite 
saying. 

Outside  his  circle  of  scholars  and  friends,  what  brought 
Akiba  great  fame  was  his  researches  in  the  Bible  and  his 


Akiba  15 

explanations  of  its  laws.  He,  together  with  others,  pon- 
Hu  dered  long  over  the  question  of  what  books 

Researches  in  should  be  included  in  the  canon  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  what  works  should  be  rejected.  He  de- 
fended especially  the  Song  of  Songs,  interpreting  that 
lovely  lyrical  drama  as  an  allegory  descriptive  of  the  rela- 
tion of  God  to  Israel,  His  bride.  That  the  Bible  might 
come  correctly  to  the  Greek-speaking  Jews,  without  the 
errors  and  inaccuracies  with  which  the  Septuagint  often 
distorted  the  meaning  of  the  holy  text,  he  led  Aquila  to 
make  a  new  translation.* 

When  Akiba  turned  from  the  written  records  of  the 
Bible  to  the  laws  that  had  come  down  by  word  of  mouth 
Hi«  from  generation  to  generation,  he  found  them 

fn<r10Pmenl  so  scattered  that  they  were  almost  unavailable 
Arrangement  for  practical  purposes.  This  wealth  of  traditional 
Traditional  ^aws  Akiba  systematized  and  brought  into 
Lawi.  methodical  arrangement.  More  than  this,  he 

showed  how,  from  the  accumulated  wisdom  of  the  oral 
law,  an  inexhaustible  number  of  new  applications  might  be 
continually  extracted.  He  saw,  now  that  the  Jewish  state 
had  been  destroyed,  that  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  bond 
between  the  Jews  must  be  made  the  means  of  keeping 
them  together.  The  Bible  alone  could  not  constitute  this 
bond,  for  the  Christians  too  regarded  it  as  a  divine  revela- 
tion. Akiba  was  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  providing 
something  that  should  counteract  the  influence  of  the  non- 
Jewish  world  of  Christian  thought  and  Greek  philosophy. 
As  the  Pharisees,  amid  similar  dangers,  had  isolated  them- 
selves in  their  daily  intercourse,  so  Akiba  now  sought  to 

*  This  Aquila,  or  A!:ylas  as  he  is  called  in  rabbinical  litera- 
ture, was  a  proselyte  from  paganism  to  Judaism.  His  Greek 
version  of  the  Bible  was  practically  a  literal  translation,  a 
thorough  and  exact  piece  of  work  which  delighted  his  Jewish 
teachers. 


16  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

apply  this  idea  of  isolation  to  the  intellectual  life.  He 
wanted  to  give  the  Jews  something  Jewish  to  think  about. 
This  he  did  by_  declaring  his  conviction  that  there  is  nothing 
superfluous  in  the  Torah;  that  every  peculiarity  of  diction, 
every  separate  word  is  to  be  considered  as  having  a 
deeper  meaning  than  meets  the  eye;  that  the  full  meaning 
of  the  inspired  text  will  come  out  only  as  a  result  of 
loving  and  laborious  study.  In  this  minute  examination  of 
the  written  word  he  gave  the  Jewish  mind  an  engrossing 
field  for  its  activity.  He  also,  like  Hillel  before  him,  did 
his  part  towards  making  the  laws  in  the  Bible  capable  of 
modification  and  amplification,  so  that  they  could  be  inter- 
preted in  the  course  of  ages  in  accordance  with  the  neces- 
sity of  development  in  Judaism.  In  his  development  of  the 
traditional  material  and  in  his  orderly  arrangement  of  it  he 
showed  his  true  genius. 

This  complete  absorption  in  the  study  of  the  Law  Akiba 
continued,  even  after  Hadrian  had  forbidden  it  on  pain  of 
•K>ur  death.  When  a  friend  urged  him  to  give  up 

Element  is  this  dangerous  activity,  he  answered,  "Let  me 
:ah<"  tell  you  a  story.  A  fox,  walking  along  the 
banks  of  a  river,  looked  down  in  pity  at  the  agonized 
struggles  of  the  fish  in  the  water. 

'  'Why  are  you  so  restless  ?'  he  asked. 

"  'We  fear  the  hooks  and  the  nets  of  the  fishermen',  they 
replied. 

"  'Then  come  on  land',  he  counseled  them.  'We  shall 
dwell  together  here  in  peace  and  security.' 

"  'You  foolish  fox !'  exclaimed  the  fish.  'Can  you 
really  be  the  wise  animal  you  claim  to  be?  If  we  are  not 
safe  in  the  element  in  which  we  live,  how  much  greater  will 
be  our  peril  out  of  it!' 

"Our  element",  continued  the  wise  man,  "is  the  Torah. 
If  we  forsake  it,  we  destroy  ourselves." 

A  short  time  thereafter,  Rabbi  Akiba  was  condemned  to 


Akiba 


17 


Martyrdom. 


die  by  torture.  Unflinchingly,  though  suffering  fiendish 
torment,  he  repeated  the  Shema,  the  declaration 
of  the  Unity  of  God.  To  the  astonished  ques- 
tioning of  his  executioner,  who  asked  whether  he  were 
indeed  insensible  to  pain,  he  answered,  "I  feel  the  pain,  but 
I  have  often  promised  in  prayer  to  love  my  God  with  all 
my  heart,  with  all  my  soul,  and  with  all  my  might — which 
means  even  if  they  take  my  life.  Now  that  my  life  is  de- 
manded of  me,  should  I  not  rejoice  that  I  am  able  to 
hallow  the  name  of  God  publicly?" 

So  he  died,  and  all  Israel  mourned  the  loss  of  the  great 
man,  so  wise,  so  noble,  so  devout.     They  treasured  his  wise 
important        precepts,   eternal   truths    compressed   into   a    few 
Sayings.          brief  words.  One  well-known  saying  gives  a  promi- 
nent place  in  Jewish  doctrine  to  the  thought  that  man  has 
godlike  qualities.     Akiba  said,  "Beloved  is  man  that  he  was 
created  in  the  image  of  God;  greater  love  was  it  that  it  was 
made  known  to  him  that  he  was  created  in 
the  image  of  God,  as  it  is  said,  'In  the  image 
of    God   made   He   man'."      Another   saying 
touches   on  two  great  problems :     it  affirms 
God's   Omniscience  and,   at   the   same   time, 
man's  freedom  of  will;  and  it  reconciles  two 
other  apparent  opposites,  Mercy  and  Justice. 
"Everything    is     foreseen;    and    freewill    is 
given.     And  the  world  is  judged  by  grace, 
and  everything  is  according  to  work."     Thus 
the   spirit   that   had   animated   Akiba   by   no 
means  died  with  him.     He  had  been  a  great 
teacher,   and   from  his   sohool  many   famous 
scholars  had  come.     He  pointed  the  way  for 
Manti56oHagada     Jewish  thought  to  follow. 


18  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Bacher:     Agada  d.  Tannaiten,  Vol.  I,  pp.  271-340. 

Graetz :    Geschichte,  Vol.  IV,  p.  50  ff. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  II,  pp.  342-359. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol  I,  p.  304,  Article  Akiba. 

Schuerer,  E. :     A  History  of  the  Jewish  People,  Div.  II,  Vol.  I,  p. 

375;  Div.  I,  Vol.  II,  pp.  287-321. 
Stein,  L. :     Rabbi  Akiba  u.  seine  Zeit. 


III. 

RABBI  MEIR. 

The  favorite  pupil  of  the  great  Akiba  was  Rabbi  Meir, 
and  his  name,  which  means  "One  who  Enlightens,"  is  a  true 
Earl  Life-  indication  of  his  life  and  work.  He  was  born  some- 
Scribe  and  where  in  Asia  Minor,  at  some  time  in  the  first  half 
of  the  second  century  of  the  present  era,  possibly 
about  140.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  the  child  of  poor 
parents,  for  he  was  early  obliged  to  seek  his  own  livelihood. 
He  was  a  studious  lad  who  loved  his  books,  and  so  he 
chose  a  calling  that  did  not  take  him  away  from  them. 
He  became  a  scribe,  and  with  skilled  and  loving  hand  copied 
the  sacred  books  over  and  over.  His  faithful  copying 
fixed  them  in  his  mind  so  firmly  that  in  after  years,  when 
he  found  himself  on  the  eve  of  the  Feast  of  Purim  in  a 
little  Jewish  community  where  there  was  no  copy  of  the 
Book  of  Esther,  he  was  able  to  write  out  the  entire  book 
from  memory  without  one  mistake.  But  his  repeated  copy- 
ing did  not  satisfy  his  keen  desire  for  knowledge,  his 
yearning  for  the  wider  culture  that  must  be  his  if  he  were 
to  realize  his  ambition  of  becoming  a  teacher  in  Israel. 
Accordingly  he  sought  teachers,  especially  the  great  Akiba. 
And  he  soon  became  the  favorite  pupil  of  his  master,  who, 
on  account  of  the  youth's  untiring  industry,  quick  under- 
stapding,  and  clear,  penetrating  intellect,  ordained  him  as 
rabbi  before  other  and  older  disciples. 

19 


20  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Into  his  work  as  rabbi,  Meir  threw  himself  with  ardor 
and  devotion.  He  established  schools  where  he  could  carry 
Rabbi  and  on  the  work  of  his  martyred  master,  and  teach 
Teacher.  the  Law  wjth  a\\  the  o\^  explanations  that  had 

been  handed  down  from  one  generation  of  scholars  to  the 
next,  as  well  as  the  new  interpretations  that  the  rabbis  of  his 
own  time  were  adding.  He  was  a  most  interesting  and  suc- 
cessful teacher.  Pupils  flocked  to  him  in  great  numbers 
from  far  and  near.  They  admired  his  power  of  expressing 
himself  concisely  and  to  the  point. 

They  enjoyed  his  method  of  enlivening  his  lectures  with 
stories  from  his  wide  and  varied  knowledge  of  life  and  of 
The  Jewish  literature,  especially  with  legends  and  with  fables, 
Aesop.  of  which  he  told  so  many  that  he  has  been  called 

the  Jewish  Aesop.  He  was  particularly  fond  of  telling 
stories  in  which  the  wily  fox  figured.  Here  is  one  of  his 
fables,  which  is  found  also  in  the  literature  of  other 
peoples : 

Once  the  fox  persuaded  the  wolf  to  go  with  him  to  a 
Jewish  farmhouse  where  he  could  regale  himself  with  the 
good  things  that  the  careful  housewife  had  prepared  for  the 
Sabbath.  Scarcely,  however,  had  the  wolf  made  his  ap- 
pearance when  the  people  of  the  house  ran  up  with  sticks 
and  stones,  and  drove  the  poor  wolf  away.  The  wolf,  in  a 
rage,  turned  upon  his  false  adviser,  and  would  have  killed 
him.  But  the  fox  artfully  said,  "It  is  not  on  your  account 
that  they  beat  you,  but  on  account  of  your  father,  who  once 
sneaked  into  this  very  farmyard  and  made  away  with  the 
goodies." 

"And  must  I  suffer  because  of  my  father?"  asked  the 
wolf. 

"Certainly",  replied  the  fox.  "Is  it  not  written,  'The 
fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's  teeth  are 
set  on  edge'?"  , 

Through    this    story    Rabbi    Meir   teaches    us    that    God 


Rabbi  Meir  21 

punishes  the  sinning  children  for  their  own  sins;  that  he 
does  not  punish  the  innocent  descendants  of  the  wicked.  It 
is  the  teaching  of  the  prophet  Ezekiel  in  opposition  to  the 
popular  saying  which  the  rabbi  ironically  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  the  fox.  For  Ezekiel  said:  "The  son  shall  not 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  father,  neither  shall  the  father  bear 
the  iniquity  of  the  son:  the  righteousness  of  the  righteous 
shall  be  upon  him,  and  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked  shall 
be  upon  him." 

Many  were  the .  wise  sayings  of  the  teacher  that  his 
scholars  treasured.  We  have,  indeed,  no  fewer  than  327 
Wise  sayings  which  are  definitely  ascribed  to  him,  and 

Sayings,  there  are  probably  many  more  which  do  not  bear 
his  name.  He  would  often  express  his  love  of  God  and 
his  zeal  to  learn  His  ways:  "Learn  the  ways  of  the  Lord 
with  your  whole  heart  and  your  whole  soul.  Watch  at  the 
gates  of  the  Law.  Let  the  fear  of  the  Lord  be  always  be- 
fore your  eyes.  Keep  your  tongue  from  evil  words. 
Cleanse  yourself  and  make  yourself  pure  that  you  may 
stand  without  sin  before  the  Lord,  and  He  will  be  with 
you."  He  advised  his  pupils:  "Have  little  business  and  be 
busied  in  the  Torah."  He  vividly  impressed  upon  parents 
their  duty  to  give  their  children  religious  instruction :  "God 
demanded  of  Israel  hostages  that  he  would  keep  the  Law. 
Israel  offered  the  Patriarchs;  God  rejected  them.  Israel 
offered  the  Prophets;  God  rejected  them  too.  The  children 
alone  would  God  accept  as  hostages.  Then  did  He  impart 
His  Law  to  Israel." 

Meir's  varied  experience  of  the  world  appears  in  his 
social  maxims,  such  as  "Love  the  friend  who  admonishes 
you,  and  hate  the  one  who  flatters  you."  He  exalts  work: 
he  says,  "It  is  not  the  trade  followed  but  the  merit  of  the 
workman  which  makes  him  rich  or  poor." 

Rabbi  Meir  discouraged  among  his  pupils  any  blind 
following  of  the  words  of  even  the  most  eminent  sage.  He 


22  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

inspired    the    young    men    to    individual    investigation    and 
research.     He  led  them  to  think  for  themselves. 

His    Rational  «...  /,, 

Testing  of  the  Look  not  to  the  vessel,  he  would  say,  but  to 
Traditional  fts  contents.  There  are  new  vessels  which  are 
full  of  old  wine,  and  there  are  old  vessels  which 
contain  not  even  new  wine."  He  introduced  the  rule  of 
testing  upon  rational  grounds  the  validity  of  each  decision 
in  the  traditional  Law.  Indeed,  so  many  were  the  argu- 
ments that  he  would  marshal  on  both  sides  of  a  disputed 
question  that  it  was  difficult  for  the  scholars  to  follow  him 
and  to  discover  his  own  personal  opinion  on  the  subject. 

So  he  worked,  teaching  and  explaining  the  Law.  And 
he  continued  also  the  labors  of  Akiba  in  arranging  the 
His  Arrange-  rich  treasures  of  the  traditional  Law  according  to 
Traditional6  t^ie^r  subjects*  an  important  service  to  the  gen- 
Law,  erations  that  came  after  him. 

All  the  virtues  that  he  preached  to  his  disciples  his  own 
life  showed  in  daily  practice.  Although  he  was  the  fore- 
His  Char-  most  scholar  of  his  time,  he  was  always  modest. 

.cter:  Modest,  «,Be    jowly    jn    ^^    t()    eyery    ^^    he    ^^    t<> 

Tolerant  say.  "Despise  no  one,  high  or  low,  for  all  men 
are  equal  before  God."  He  was  broad-minded  and  tolerant 
and  lived  on  friendly  terms  with  heathen  scholars.  Es- 
pecially beautiful  was  his  loyalty  to  a  teacher  of  his,  Elisha 
ben  Abuyah,  known  in  the  Talmud  by  the  name  of  Acher, 
the  Other,  in  order  to  avoid  the  mention  of  the  name  he 
disgraced.  When  people  reproached  Meir  for  his  tender- 
ness to  a  man  who  had  forsaken  the  religion  of  his  fathers 
and  derided  its  teachings,  he  replied,  "Even  when  they  err, 
the  father  does  not  deny  his  children."  And  so  he  con- 
tinued to  associate  with  the  apostate  and  to  derive  much 
benefit  from  his  great  learning,  while  shunning  his  heretical 
views.  "I  take  the  kernel,"  Meir  said,  "but  cast  away  the 
husk." 

Particularly  near  to  his  heart  were  the  needy,  and  they 


Rabbi  Meir  23 

felt  his  sympathy  and  realized  that  he  understood  and  re- 
spected them,  having  himself  grown  up  among  the  poor. 
And  his  wealthier  neighbors  were  the  more  likely  to  follow 
his  admonition  to  do  good  to  those  who  needed  it  when 
they  knew  that  the  good  rabbi  himself  gave  to  the  poor, 
not  only  the  tenth  prescribed  by  the  Law,  but  a  full  third 
of  his  entire  income. 

Often  in  the  cruel  persecutions  that  followed  the  failure 
of  Bar  Cochba's  rebellion,  he  would  urge  the  oppressed 
A  Messenger  Pe°P^e  to  be  patient  in  their  suffering  and  to 
of  Peace  thank  God  for  the  evil  as  for  the  good.  He  was 
ort'  a  man  of  peace  and  praised  peace  in  eloquent 
words:  "Great  is  peace;  God  has  not  created  anything  more 
beautiful."  And  Rabbi  Meir  did  not  know  any  greater 
pleasure  than  being  able  to  reconcile  those  who  had  been  at 
strife. 

Scarcely  less  famous  than  the  great  scholar  himself  was 
his  wife,  Beruriah.  She  was  the  daughter  of  a  great 
BerurUh-  teacher,  and  when  scholars  gathered  at  her 
Her  father's  house  she  listened  eagerly  to  their  words 

*hlp'  of  wisdom.  Thus  she  gained  so  thorough  a 
knowledge  of  the  Law  that  she  excelled  many  of  the 
scholars  in  learning.  Her  keen  mind  could  unravel  the  most 
complicated  problem,  and  her  interpretations  of  the  Law 
excited  the  admiration  of  the  greatest  teachers  of  her  time. 
Indeed,  one  of  them  was  worsted  in  a  discussion  with  her 
and  was  obliged  to  admit  that  Beruriah  was  in  the  right. 

But  her  unusual  intellectual  attainments  did  not  make 
Beruriah  any  the  less  tender-hearted  and  womanly.  It 
Her  grieved  her  to  hear  the  wicked  spoken  of  harsh- 

Tenderness.       \y       «TJ)O  not   fea(j   the   Scriptural  text,"   she  WOUld 

say,  "as  if  it  were  written  that  sinners  should  perish,  but 
that  jin  should  disappear.  It  is  better  to  wish  that  sinners 
should  repent  than  to  pray  for  their  destruction." 

Her  piety  and  her  resignation  in  time  of  trouble  have 


24  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

made  her  conduct  a  model  and  her  name  a  household  word. 
Her  Piety  and  Much  sorrow  fell  to  her  lot.  Soon  after  her 
Resignation,  marriage  to  Rabbi  Meir,  the  cruelty  of  the 
Romans  rudely  shattered  the  happiness  of  their  peaceful 
little  home.  Her  dearly  beloved  father,  with  nine  other 
teachers  of  the  Law,  went  to  a  martyr's  death.  The  same 
fate  befell  her  mother.  And  her  only  sister  was  carried  off 
a  captive  to  Rome.  To  save  her  sister,  she  besought  her 
husband  to  undertake  the  dangerous  task  of  going  to  Rome 
and  endeavoring  to  free  the  prisoner,  a  perilous  quest  in 
which  he  was  finally  successful. 

At  no  time  does  Beruriah  appear  more  truly  the  heroine 
than  at  the  death  of  her  two  sons.  On  a  Sabbath,  when 
The  Parable  Rabbi  Meir  was  at  the  synagogue,  both  children 
Precious  were  suddenly  stricken  and  died.  When  the 
Jewels.  father  on  his  return  asked  for  his  sons,  the 

mother  bravely  controlled  her  grief,  and  kept  the  tragic 
news  from  her  husband  until  the  sacred  day  was  over. 
Then  when  the  rabbi  had  pronounced  the  last  benediction, 
the  noble  woman  said,  "Some  time  ago  some  precious  jewels 
were  entrusted  to  my  safekeeping.  Now  the  owner  has 
come  to  claim  them  again.  Must  I  give  them  back  to  him?" 

"Can  my  wife  ask  such  a  question?"  returned  the  rabbi 
gravely.  "Can  there  be  any  question  about  returning  to 
any  one  what  is  his  own?" 

"Oh,  no,"  she  answered.  "But  I  did  not  care  to  let 
them  go  out  of  my  keeping  without  your  knowledge." 

Thereupon  she  led  him  tenderly  to  the  upper  room 
where  their  children  lay  dead. 

"My  sons,"  cried  the  father  in  anguish.  "My  sons!" 
But  Beruriah  stifled  her  own  grief  to  comfort  the  heart- 
broken man.  "The  Lord  gave,"  she  reverently  murmured, 
"and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the 
Lord." 


Rabbi  Meir  25 

"Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  the  father  was  able 
to  repeat  with  her. 

Other  misfortunes  saddened  the  rabbi's  last  years. 
Shortly  after  the  death  of  his  sons,  he  lost  his  devoted  wife. 
Last  Years  ^s  old  age  he  was  obliged  to  spend  far  from 
and  Death  of  the  scene  of  his  beloved  work,  in  Asia  Minor; 

Rabbi  Meir.       and   there    he    djed        <<Bury    me   by   ^   shore^   fo 

said  to  his  pupils,  "that  the  sea  which  washes  the  land  of 
my  fathers  may  also  touch  my  bones." 

The  tribute  to  his  greatness  and  his  goodness  was  uni- 
versal. All  recognized  in  him  the  foremost  teacher  of  the 
The  Most  kaw  °f  ms  generation,  the  worthy  follower  of 
Popular  of  his  master,  Akiba.  And  of  all  the  Tannaim,  it 
anaun-  is  Rabbi  Meir  whose  name  is  most  widely  known 
among  the  people.  They  remember  gratefully  his  labors  in 
the  Law,  his  toleration  and  generosity,  the  quaint  stories  in 
which  he  set  forth  valuable  moral  lessons.  And  they 
cherish  the  memory  of  the  helpmate  whose  name  is  coupled 
with  his,  the  noble  Beruriah,  who  was  pious  and  submis- 
sive in  the  greatest  sorrow  that  can  come  to  a  mother. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Bacher:    Agada  d.  Tannaiten. 

Blumenthal,  A. :     Rabbi  Meir  u.  seine  Zeit. 

Graetz :    Geschichte,  Vol.  IV,  p.  169  ff. 

Graetz :     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  II,  p.  434  ff. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia :     Vol.  Ill,  pp.  432-435,  Article  Meir. 


IV. 

JUDAH  HA-NASI. 

Hadrian  left  Judea  a  wilderness  and,  as  he  thought, 
Judaism  crushed.  But  the  courage  of  the  martyrs  inspired 
Workers  and  all  Jews,  and  they  applied  themselves  only  the 
Scholars.  more  steadfastly  to  their  religion,  following  its 
precepts  as  devotedly  in  the  dreary  years  that  succeeded 
Bar  Cochba's  revolt  as  in  the  more  peaceful  times  that  came 
later,  when  emperors  more  humane  than  Hadrian  ascended 
the  throne.  Their  numbers  were  thinned  by  massacre,  their 
activities  impaired  by  persecution,  but  they  labored  with 
zeal  and  self-sacrifice  to  carry  on  uninterrupted  the  life  of 
the  spirit  that  had  been  left  to  them  by  their  martyred 
brothers.  The  work  begun  by  Jochanan  ben  Zakkai  and 
carried  on  by  Akiba  and  Rabbi  Meir  was  taken  up  by  new 
generations  of  scholars  and  teachers.  These  brave  Tannaim 
were  mostly  humble  workers — carpenters,  tent-makers, 
weavers — leading  full  and  active  workaday  lives  in  the 
community  while  they  bent  the  powers  of  their  mind  to 
the  interpretation  of  Holy  Writ. 

The  greatest  of  them  was  Judah.  According  to  tradition, 
he  was  born  on  the  very  day  of  Akiba's  tragic  death.  He 
judah  came  of  an  illustrious  family,  tracing  his  an- 

hm-Nasi  cestry  back  through  a  line  of  distinguished 
scholars,  to  the  great  Hillel  himself.  Hillel's  grandson, 
Gamaliel  I,  had,  like  Hillel,  paid  great  attention  to  study, 

26 


Judaft  Ha~Na$i  27 

and  had  been  the  originator  of  many  legal  ordinances.  His 
grandson  in  turn,  Gamaliel  II,  had  continued  the  work  which 
Hillel  had  begun.  He  had  had  in  view  especially  the  aboli- 
tion of  old  dissensions  and  the  prevention  of  new  quarrels. 
And  now  Judah,  grandson  of  Gamaliel  II,  was  following  the 
tradition  of  his  famous  house.  His  father,  Simon  ben 
Gamaliel,  was  his  first  teacher,  and  he  was  also  in  close 
relation  with  most  of  the  great  pupils  of  Akiba,  with 
Simeon  ben  Yochai  and  Eleazar  ben  Shammua,  and  especially 
with  Jose  ben  Chalafta. 

He  spent  his  youth  in  study,  learning  the  Law  of  Moses 
and  the  vast  wealth  of  tradition  that  had  accumulated  about 
it.  In  time  he  succeeded  his  father  as  head  of  the  San- 
hedrin,  leader  of  the  Jews  in  Palestine;  and  in  this  position 
he  enjoyed  such  authority  and  splendor  that  the  title  ha- 
Nasi,  always  given  to  the  head  of  the  Sanhedrin  and 
hereditary  in  the  family  of  Hillel  for  many  generations, 
came  to  be  applied  to  him  with  a  special  significance:  he 
was  indeed  a  Jewish  prince.  Living  very  simply  himself,  he 
used  his  great  wealth  to  support  poor  students  of  the  Law. 
Once  during  a  famine  he  threw  open  the  doors  of  his  store- 
houses and  distributed  grain  among  the  needy.  So  holy  a 
life  did  he  lead  that  men  called  him  ha-Kadosh,  the  Holy, 
and  so  many  pupils  gathered  about  him  that  they  called  him 
also  simply  Rabbi,  the  Master.  Yet  so  modest  was  he  that 
he  sums  up  his  experience  as  scholar  and  teacher  in  the 
following  words:  "I  have  learned  much  from  my  masters, 
more  from  my  colleagues  than  from  my  masters,  and  more 
from  my  pupils  than  from  all  the  others." 

It  is  by  his  work  that  we  best  know  him.  We  have  said 
that  he  was  a  student  of  the  Law  and  with  it  of  the  tra- 
Thc  dition  that  had  accumulated  about  it.  For  the 

Traditional  Mosaic  law  had  aiways  had  to  be  explained  and 
Explanations,  amplified.  The  command  "Ye  shall  dwell  in 
booths",  for  example,  seems  at  first  clear  and  simple  enough. 


28  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Begin  to  follow  it,  however,  and  questions  at  once  arise. 
Does  the  "ye"  mean  men,  women,  and  children?  Does  the 
"dwell"  include  eating  and  sleeping?  Of  what  material  are 
the  booths  to  be  made?  How  are  they  to  be  constructed? 
All  such  points  as  these  were  discussed  and  settled. 

Then,  too,  you  will  remember  that  at  every  change  in 
the  circumstances  of  the  people,  at  every  development  in 
The  the  conditions  under  which  they  lived,  new  prob- 

Lawdltl°  ^ems  arose  that  were  not  to  be  solved  simply  by 
Modifications,  referring  them  to  the  old  laws  as  they  stood. 
Laws  that  had  been  admirably  suited  to  an  agricultural  com- 
munity living  on  its  farm-land  were  found  inadequate  when 
the  complicated  processes  of  varied  industries  and  of  com- 
merce came  into  the  life  of  the  people.  In  these  perplexi- 
ties where  were  the  people  to  turn  for  guidance?  With  the 
wisdom  of  their  faith,  they  knew.  They  knew  that  in  the 
Torah  they  had  a  priceless  heritage,  a  body  of  law  founded 
on  broadly  humanitarian  principles,  sound  and  true  and 
noble  in  every  underlying  motive.  That  was  to  be  always 
the  source  and  fountain-head  of  their  instruction.  All  that 
they  needed  was  a  mind  with  the  insight  to  seize  upon  the 
life-giving  truth  of  the  old,  revered  law  and  with  the  skill 
and  tact  to  apply  it  to  the  complex  conditions  of  more 
modern  life.  Thus  the  great  Hillel  had  found,  in  his  day, 
that  one  of  the  old  laws  was  actually  becoming  a  hardship 
to  the  people.  This  law  decreed  that  in  the  Sabbatical  year 
all  debts  were  to  be  canceled.  Now  the  men  of  wealth,  at 
the  approach  of  this  year,  were  refusing  to  lend  their 
money.  It  was  not  that  they  begrudged  charity  to  the  poor; 
this  they  freely  gave.  But  when  men  came  for  means 
wherewith  to  finance  large  commercial  ventures,  why,  thought 
the  man  with  money,  should  I  lend  my  hard-earned  gold, 
when,  in  a  year's  time,  I  shall  lose  it?  What,  then,  was 
to  be  done?  Was  the  old  law  to  be  thrown  aside  as  no 
longer  of  value?  Hillel  thought  not.  Look  at  the  law 


Judah  Hc^Nasi  29 

more  closely.  What  is  its  underlying  motive?  The  Bible 
tells  that  it  was  decreed  in  order  that  "Ye  shall  not  there- 
fore oppress  one  another."  (Lev.  xxv:i7.)  If,  then,  this 
law,  so  humane  and  beneficent  in  the  older,  simpler  times, 
becomes  oppressive  in  these  later  days,  the  sage,  pene- 
trating past  its  letter,  will  look  to  its  spirit ;  and,  holding  fast 
to  that  as  his  guide,  he  will  so  modify  the  statute  that  its 
kindly  impulse  will  still  be  obeyed.  Thus  Hillel  had  ruled 
that  the  creditor  should  give  over  the  debt  in  writing  to  the 
court,  so  that  the  court  might  collect  it.  This  was  equally 
advantageous  to  the  creditor,  who  was  now  able  to  collect 
his  loan,  and  to  the  borrower,  who  found  people  no  longer 
hestitating  to  advance  him  the  money  as  the  Sabbatical  year 
approached. 

To  Hillel,  too,  is  due  the  great  service  of  formulating 
the  first  definite  rules,  by  which  new  laws  could  be  de- 
The  veloped  logically  from  the  precepts  in  the  Bible. 

Seven    Rules     m.  ,  .  , 

of  Hillel.  These  rules  are  seven  m  number  and  are  as 
follows : 

1.  The  inference  from  a  less  rigorous  case  to  a  more 
rigorous  case,  and  vice  versa. 

2.  The  inference  based  upon  analogy  of  language  in  the 
Scriptures. 

3.  The  generalization  from  one  special  provision  in  the 
Scriptures. 

4.  The    generalization    based    upon    two    special    provi- 
sions  in   the   Scriptures. 

5.  The  inference   based   upon   the   relationship  between 
general  and  particular  terms. 

6.  The  inference  based  upon  the  analogy  established  be- 
tween two  Scriptural  passages. 

7.  The  inference  based  upon  the  context  of  the  verse. 
These   seven   rules   of    Hillel   were   later   expanded   and 

other  rules  added. 

A  few  illustrations  will  show  how  these  methods  were 


30  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

applied.     In  the  twenty-second  chapter  of   Exodus,  in  the 
twelfth  verse,  provision  is  made  that  a  man  to 

Illustrations.  -  .         .  L     ,    .  ... 

whom  a  thing  is  entrusted  for  safe-keeping  must 
make  restitution  in  cases  where  the  entrusted  article  is 
stolen.  But  what  is  to  be  done  if  the  thing  entrusted  is  lost? 
The  rabbis  decided  that  if  the  man  had  to  make  restitution 
for  theft,  which  the  greatest  vigilance  may  not  always  pre- 
vent, how  much  more  is  he  to  make  restitution  for  loss, 
when  he  must  have  been  seriously  deficient  in  the  necessary 
care.  Thus  from  a  law  rigorous  in  a  matter  of  minor  im- 
portance, the  rabbis  drew  the  inference  that  the  same  rigor 
is  the  more  applicable  to  a  matter  of  greater  importance, 
even  though  the  more  serious  case  is  not  mentioned  ex- 
pressly in  the  Law. 

Again  in  the  sixth  verse  of  the  twenty- fourth  chapter  of 
Deuteronomy  the  Law  provides  that  "No  man  shall  take  the 
mill  or  the  upper  millstone  as  pledge;  for  he  taketh  a  man's 
life  to  pledge."  This  law,  as  you  see,  is  special,  forbidding 
in  cases  of  loans  the  taking  as  pledge  of  certain  specified 
objects,  the  handmill  and  the  millstone.  The  reason  which 
the  Law  assigns  for  the  prohibition,  however,  is  general ; 
by  taking  from  the  poor  debtor  these  very  necessary  articles, 
you  are  depriving  his  family  of  the  means  of  preparing  their 
daily  food.  Hence  the  rabbis  generalized  from  this  law  and 
made  it  prohibit  the  taking  as  pledge  of  everything  which 
was  used  for  preparing  food.  In  a  similar  manner  the 
special  law  "Thou  shalt  not  plow  with  an  ox  and  an  ass 
together"  was  generalized  so  as  to  forbid  also  the  yoking 
together  of  any  other  two  animals  of  differing  degrees  of 
strength,  the  ox  and  the  ass  having  been  mentioned  es- 
pecially only  because  they  were  the  animals  ordinarily  em- 
ployed in  farming  in  Palestine.  And  not  only  in  plowing 
but  also  for  any  other  purpose  was  it  forbidden  to  yoke 
together  animals  differing  in  strength. 

In  this  manner  the  leaders  of  the  people  drew  from  the 


Judah  HoNast  31 


tO  rt\yt>r  all  raspg  wfrirh 
came  before  them,  It  WES  their  endeavor  always  fft  abnw 
that  these  laws  were  founded  "p™i  a  Rj^liral  hade;  anr| 
by  the  use  of  the  sam£_rr*nriplM-thrn"gh 
hadbeen  fprmed.  provision  could  alwqyg 
cases,  however  puzzling. 

focTT  laws    as    these,   then- 


modifications,  the  applications  of  old  laws  tQ  npw  problems 
rnmniw  nf  —  accumulated  j"  yft\irsp>  n^  tin?g  to  enormous 
the  MUhnah.  proportions.  From  thfi_time  of  Ezra  the  Scribe 
the  work  had  been  going  on,  from  the  li"^  when  he  had 
gathered  the  people  together  and  "they  read  in  the  book 
of  the  law  of  God  distinctly,  and  gave  the  sense  and  caused 
them  to  understand  the  reading."  Each  generation  learned 
the  tradition  from  its  fathers  and  taught  it  to  its  sons.  It 
was  a  vast  legacy  that  had  become  ingrained  in  the  life  of 
the  people.  Riit^  ihp  tirne  carn**-  when  the  memory  of  marl. 
even  the  memory  as  it  was  trained  in  thofjfr  dnv^  "^"^  no 
longer  hold  the  vast  accumnlatinn^  Then,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  sages  tried  to  arrange  and  to  classify  it.  First  Hillel 
applied  himself  to  the  task.  Then  Rabbi  Akiba  took  it  up, 
but  his  activity  was  brought  to  an  untimely  end,  leaving  the 
tremendous  work  only  begun.  Rabbi  Meir  followed  his 
great  teacher.  Finally  it  was  Rahbi  Judah  who,  ahnqt  the 
year  200  pf  the  prp^p^f^ra  mlWfp/i  fVio  \yhn1Q 
Taking"the  work  of  Akiba's,  school  ag  ° 


his  arrang'P-mpqt  op  the  cla^ifica.ti'"'"  n.f  AWiha  anH  nf  J?ahhi 
Meir.  he  gathered  the  mass  of  tradition.  a^"g  -*o 
decisions  as  he  and  his  colleagues  rparhed  j^ 
rag^^  It  .was,  of  cqurse.  ^,  colossal  undertaking^  A11  jtb<* 
scholars  helped  ;  all  possible  methods  of  collecting  and  com- 
'  '  wjork  is  called  the  Mishnah. 


^ 
This  -term,  according  to  some  scholars,  is  derived  from  the 


Hebrew  vertT7Aan4,  !lit^Liiili^  "10  l«aO?l"  of  "to  repeat,"  lind 
Worl-  rnntamg  fh»  oral  teaching,  instruc- 


32  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

tion  in  the  traditional  law  heard  from  the  teacher,  in  con- 
trast with  the  written  1flw,  whirh  one  ygqflyjfl  foe  "Rihlp- 

The  Mishnah  is,  as  we  have  se.en.  strictly  a.  code  of  la^ 
and  it  was  welcomed  as  the  authoritative;  law  bnnV  by  thr 

The  |pwg     fhrniifjrKoni-     f*"»     ™r>r1H-        According     to     JtS 

Mishnah.  prp-r_ppffi    f%y   nrHerprl    thfir   1i'Yf<i    *r>   tViA   mi'nui-ocf 

detail ;   and   well   they  could,    for  there   is   nothing  that   it 

does^not   include It   rovers   within    its    srnne   all    the   rir-  . 

rumstanrp^  of  hnmar|  life — the-.rg|ig-fo"g  ^"tiVg  nf  thft  in- 
dividual,  the  arrangement  of  the  liturgy,  the  rules  for  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  other  holy  days,  the 
directions  in  relation  to  the  sacrifices,  the  Temple  worship, 
Levitical  purity,  the  priesthood;  marriage  and  divorce  laws; 
laws  concerning  damages  and  injuries,  found  property, 
buying  and  selling,  lending,  hiring  and  renting,  real  estate, 
courts  and  their  proceedings,  the  punishment  of  capital 
crimes.  It  is  divided  into  six  parts,  each  of  which  contains 
a  number  of  treatises.  The  main  divisions  take  their  names 
from  the  subject  of  the  majority  of  the  treatises  in  them. 
The  first,  Seeds,  contains  the  agricultural  laws  and  also  the 
benedictions;  the  second,  Festivals,  the  laws  concerning  the 
holy  days  and  the  Sabbath ;  the  third,  Women,  the  laws  con- 
cerning marriage  and  divorce;  the  fourth,  Damages,  the 
laws  of  property,  chiefly  those  concerning  compensation  for 
injupr;  the  fifth,  Sacred  Things,  the  rules  concerning  the 
sacrifices  and  the  Temple  services;  the  sixth,  Purification, 
the  regulations  for  purification  after  defilement.  The  fourth 
division,  Damages,  contains  the  best-known  of  the  Mishnah 
treatises,  the  noble  "Sayings  of  the  Fathers." 

For  the  Mishnah  is  more  than  a  law  book.  Although 
it  is  engaged  mainly  with  discussion  of  laws,  it  devotes 
much  attention  to  ethics.  Its  inspiration  is  religious.  Not 
only  is  one  treatise,  the  "Sayings  of  the  Fathers,"  exclusive- 
ly occupied  with  ethical  teaching,  but  the  moral  spirit  per- 
vades the  whole. 


Judah  Ha-Nasi 


33 


B-b  tin  b!6  TCT  "0*1  D*bVb*o'  ir! 


p"iD          mpa 

jilub  bb  li'jtff  poi  llo  D*3  •  "co  131 :  *b*JO  0*3  .  "oo  *•  c 

v«  *y» *  *•*•-.*  •,.,.  |«fV  *• ,  v  j,  irv  m  /  'o'jt>9  .*rbo  bii  bm  p'iiBDb 791  bro  pTJuob  T»  616 

brlb  ol  ptpwi  b*t>  nrw  <n  b-ro3  -30  t>lbr3p7      fMa  "A  pi  gC3  U'JIM)  0*737  093  Tibp  -30  bo-up 
D*  w  6OT  rpi  r-3 O3t)  obis  to-eo  6rl p  06 ITJ7     otupti  tnra  tow  Ton  bo  137  Tp-s  b  71 *opbr6 be 

0**b7fl*B  b9(.  V)"llpll03  ^^  ^Wi  OOlrflW  *pio77  OOHin 0*737 

TDITS*"1!  JO  Tj»  "OKyXUKa  TXp'TfJ  130  TO  :  7p6  bso  *537  730  Jl       • 

TtiB~B*'*B0m"l2riQ'.inatk'vo    -V»  bj  .re-n 
PH  th\  a-rtn  rw  uSi  ppn  rw  10  pnro 


-nuS  K"» 


,i)«m  mnntr 


:Bra  tai  fefr-  irt)  16  . 

otecmptos*  w 


eifmm    ira  -m  irsi  trn  i«o  nn  m  two 
srp  nc  tarn  maw  snpa  nari 


6»  oipte  fch»  -w  "»r  to 
"t>  *p  •»  o«»  OKI  1 


rpib  rt" 

•Ticfc  -TT 


r  (W) 

hjo  *> 


tfie1*!  rwya  H*JI«tpT  31  .-Difpno  tr  STa 

-aw 


JXTT  TI  .-pop  Kai  -an  %r»    ta 


fain  tf-  •»  tec  ijfc  tap  TP*O  ->  pTipo)  fcrpfci  ta 
row  O-TOJ  ow  (j-  r»o)  -ui  >*  xh  narn-j  tm 
j  no  ci  'joxb  ytn  '131 


unSe  -JOB  -B5  -»  .-imp  ottnoi  JTWJ  «0ln:t>5ia 
bsSi:b  *r»  »  *i)  to  ir  li  onto  im  r>5 
,  6>js»t>  JOT  -pwira  o-e  nrt  ?-3i 
jti  oo6b»  *o  r>  »  J*»»  tte  7*6  06  «rrs  - 
liJ  •jbo^>h>e6t*!no7p6brro6io»n)03bb»  free  n* 


. 

mj  Vp  r/jii1  IA  i^l  ofciw  ?p6 

TWO*  'bliol  I'VIIMJ  pC  D1B3DO  5s  |J'UI  D*O  0*171 


.  —  r    — 

T  hi  TJ"3  i*  fJW  MBO 


•xre  bi7  O3bl»  b  ncso  bb  7teb3  mot  oVsbl  ^  0*1 
ICT  cpib  it)  bt>  ibrb  bib  0*1  b*  60  B"  Jierr  rrpb»7 


lltolVfc  *>i  tr>  •rrroon  bib  TBTTB  *xn  -01  n  •9161  -jin  6>w  -5363  uiei 
trxj  bJ6  ib  t^Trt  wfc  •»  7p6i  -robiM  OTI  *»b  IreiD  tr  am  ith>  6J  bor  ofcjw  7*6  103  rt  irt? 
TCbi  *tn  vn  *i  I'jfio  1b  po  T^  TTii  fnoc  7J7  T6i  (;T3p  ^)  o'iso  b  p?o  b"wu  bci'bo 
p"JSi  Ttrs  *53p  o^r  X>i  otoroj  on  7*90  "^363  'iiCTp  birw  03  Tfwi  fir"11  7t3io  3T5  yb  bib  7030  is  om  pn3 

•«  ib  B"  Trti  rbB  T373  7e6i  O1  oxte  objc  Tfm  jrar  -o"*  TT*  rrtc  -m  to  TO  p37  6i6  TMi  owe  OTWOI 
b^c  «  Ti  PCT  on  rbr  Dpi*  snrs  bh  ft  ooi  o^ijb  6*>to  arm  bib  cntp3  B-B  m  proi  ob  bh  "07  -fi 
•gpi  ib  TJ*  jri  irto  TTTJ  Tin  be  p-o  bib  -Twi  tjxiB  onm  Vfm  «i  (mo  OTT  ootjp  "p*  s^n  BTi  ryjjb 
ST»616iy*B'sniTro'pibi»ea7l>^bi'x>iT«n>  -7»b  bii  opil  itol  ir»  onto  (:  n  q?)  TOBS  "Trtr  bro 
cCji  oosb  6^t>  cow  bib  o-w  •»  "ni  "»!  !*»  pb  oToeo  PTI  powr  TOI  7»*p  bi  TTCT  asm  bb  OUT* 
„,  •«••  TT*  03  mi  ohj-oj  bpm  -01  -irap  b>r»  *n  fcib  01363  uisl  rt  yo  mn  irp>»  Ixriiiif  "r  STT»  hbr  -/o 
JT"^  p-j  pir)  oJp»  ini  brbi  i*x)  BO  b*  Trti  bic  >•»  OTD-B  7O»  BO  b*  br  tf-  -piSb  OTB-CB  TCT  prnb  nip 
re  •f  nne  bV  BB  jr6  61  byin  cub  trim  >cb  n^i  ort  TO  OJDD  j»  Tpbr  *n  Ib  »*  776!  6bo  bb  (? 
v  T>«  t*T>  "*«"  *»i  Itp  TO  nip  tr  Trt  ps  to*!  en  13*  7761  pte  OTTO  err  rrt  -rio  -31  brr7<n» 
•Tffi  i>»l  bicpo  bB7  ii»l  •»  bpn  ttor  JBTB  bo>y  bb  ib»o  TMV-B  p  13  WTpl  orr  5ix»  o  ohil  jiili  JJ 

ff      CTt 


"•»!>•»  ff  an 


•mrt  her  ir-a  oi*  r-wr^ 
— '-03-i          m.nM 


Page  of  Talmud.     (Edition  Vienna  1860-1873.) 


34  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Bacher:    Agada  d.  Tannaiten,  pp.  454-486. 
Buechler:    Jewish  Quarterly  Review  XIII,  p.  683. 
Graetz:    Geschichte,  Vol.  IV,  p.  22. 
Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  II,  pp.  450-467. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VII,  p.   333,   Article  Judah  I. 
Schuerer,  E.:    History  of  the  Jewish  People,  Div.  I,  Vol.  I,  pp.  119- 
130. 


V. 

THE  MAKERS  OF  THE  TALMUD. 

Rabbi  Judah  ha-Nasi  had  compiled  the  Mishnah,  and 
now  the  Jews,  whenever  they  needed  guidance  in  any  matter, 
The  Amoraimj  had  a  definite  authority  to  which  they  could  refer 
S  a11  their  questions.  Often,  however,  when  they 
went  to  the  Mishnah  for  instruction,  they  found 
its  passages  too  concise  to  be  perfectly  clear.  Accordingly 
the  scholars  had  to  explain  the  Mishnah  to  the  people.  In 
their  academies  they  now  studied  the  Mishnah  as  carefully 
and  as  zealously  as  the  authors  of  the  Mishnah  had  studied 
the  Bible  itself.  They  investigated  the  sources  of  its 
various  rulings,  the  reasons  that  had  led  the  Tannaim  to 
their  decisions.  They  compared  similar  laws,  and  recon- 
ciled laws  that  seemed  to  contradict  each  other.  They  ap- 
plied the  established  principles  of  the  Mishnah  to  new 
cases  that  had  not  yet  been  considered.  Sometimes,  too,  the 
rulings  recorded  in  the  Mishnah  aroused  discussion ;  different 
scholars  expressed  differing  opinions  and  were  unable  to 
come  to  an  agreement.  These  sages  who  made  the  explana- 
tion of  the  Mishnah  their  lifework  are  called  Amoraim,  a 
term  which  may  be  translated  as  Interpreters.  Like  the 
Tannaim  they  did  not  stand  aloof  from  the  daily  life  of  the 
community,  but  led  busy  lives  as  physicians,  artisans,  or 
even  field-laborers.  For  about  three  hundred  years,  a  long 
succession  of  these  teachers  interpreted  the  Mishnah  until 

35 


36  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

at  last  there  had  accumulated  about  the  object  of  their 
study  an  enormous  number  of  discussions,  debates,  and  ad- 
ditional laws,  far  bulkier  than  the  Mishnah  itself. 

This    task    of    studying    and    interpreting    the    Mishnah 

went  on   in  the  schools   of   Palestine  and   Babylonia   alike. 

One    of    the    Palestinian    scholars    who    made    a 

In    the 

Palestinian  thorough  examination  of  every  part  of  the 
Mishnah  and  penetrated  deeply  into  its  meaning 
was  Jochanan  ben  Nappaha.  He  had  attended  the  lectures 
of  Judah  and  had  studied  also  under  other  great  teachers. 
Jochanan  was  a  man  of  agreeable  presence  and  lovable 
personality.  Many  legends  tell  of  his  kindness  to  strangers 
as  well  as  to  his  brethren,  to  the  non-observant  and  to  the 
pious,  and  especially  to  servants. 

One  day  a  former  teacher  of  his  noticed  unusually  large 
crowds  hurrying  in  one  direction  On  asking  the  reason  for 
this  great  gathering,  he  was  told  that  Jochanan  ben  Nappaha 
was  to  lecture  at  the  college,  and  that  all  the  people  were 
flocking  to  hear  him;  whereupon  the  older  man  thanked 
God  for  permitting  him  to  see  his  life's  work  bearing  such 
blessed  fruit. 

To  Jochanan's  academy  the  students  indeed  came  in 
large  numbers.  Scores  of  disciples  went  about  the  land 
teaching  his  decisions,  and  Jochanan  himself  visited  and 
lectured  at  many  places,  so  that  his  influence  spread  far  and 
wide,  and  his  name  was  on  every  lip. 

In  his  study  of  the  Mishnah  he  found  contradictory 
rulings.  These  he  endeavored  to  reconcile,  and  he  laid 
down  rules  for  final  decision  where  two  or  more  Tannaim 
entertained  opposite  opinions. 

Jochanan  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  the  teachers  of 
the  Babylonian  schools.  Indeed  the  teachers  of  the  two 
lands  were  in  constant  communication,  each  profiting  by 
the  scholarship  of  the  other. 

This    peaceful    development,    unfortunately,    was    inter- 


The  Makers  of  the  Talmud  37 

rupted  by  a  sad  change  in  the  condition  of  the  Jews  in 
The  closing  Palestine.  Here  the  Jews  had  long  lived  in 
Schools  in  security,  even  in  prosperity.  No  sooner,  how- 
Paiestine.  ever,  did  Rome  become  a  Christian  country,  than 
the  emperors,  under  the  influence  of  the  priests  of  the  new 
religion,  began  to  persecute  the  adherents  of  the  older  faith. 
In  an  effort  to  force  all  to  embrace  Christianity,  they  de- 
prived the  Jews  of  the  rights  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed; 
they  burdened  them  with  heavy  taxes ;  they  interfered  with 
their  freedom  of  worship;  in  short,  they  humiliated  them 
and  oppressed  them  in  every  way.  This  persecution,  which 
began  with  Constantine  in  the  first  half  of  the  fourth 
century,  forced  many  scholars  to  flee  from  Palestine  to  seek 
in  Babylon  the  tranquility  necessary  for  the  pursuance  of 
their  studies.  Thus  the  Palestinian  schools  lost  teachers 
and  pupils. 

By  the  time,  however,  that  the  academies  in  Palestine 
were  closing,  Babylonia  had  already  become  a  great  center 
Early  History  °^  Jewish  activity  and  influence.  This  country 
of  the  jews  had  been  a  home  for  the  Jews  since  the  time 
m  Babylonia.  wjien  Nebuchadnezzar,  leaving  the  holy  city  of 
Jerusalem  in  ruins  and  the  beautiful  land  of  Judea  a  desert 
waste,  had  led  the  conquered  people  into  exile  there. 

"By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there  we  sat  down,  yea,  we 
wept,  when  we  remembered  Zion.  We  hanged  our  harps 
on  the  willows  in  the  midst  thereof.  For  there  they  that 
carried  us  away  captive  required  of  us  a  song;  and  they 
that  wasted  us  required  of  us  mirth,  saying,  'Sing  us  one  of 
the  songs  of  Zion.' 

"How  shall  we  sing  the  Lord's  song  in  a  strange  land? 
If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  forget  her 
cunning.  If  I  do  not  remember  thee,  let  my  tongue  cleave 
to  the  roof  of  my  mouth ;  if  I  prefer  not  Jerusalem  above 
my  chief  joy." 

This   keen   pain   and  bitter  sense  of   loss   had   softened, 


38  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

however,  with  the  passing  of  time.  Jeremiah  had  counseled 
the  exiles:  "Seek  ye  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I  have 
caused  you  to  be  carried  away  captive,  and  pray  unto  the 
Lord  for  it."  The  Jews  of  Babylonia,  accordingly,  had 
soon  grown  into  a  flourishing  community ;  and  at  last  when 
Cyrus,  the  Persian  conqueror,  issued  the  decree  permitting 
them  to  return  to  Palestine,  so  many  had  found  a  per- 
manent home  in  Babylonia  that,  in  spite  of  the  general  en- 
thusiasm and  intense  joy  which  the  edict  aroused,  the 
greater  number  had  preferred  to  stay  in  this  "second  Land 
of  Israel."  From  Babylon  had  come  leaders  in  Israel — 
first  Ezra  and  later  Hillel.  When  Judea  fell,  in  70,  many 
fugitives  from  the  desolate  land  had  sought  their  kinsmen 
in  the  East.  Later  persecutions  in  Palestine,  particularly 
those  connected  with  the  Bar  Cochba  insurrection,  had 
brought  still  more  refugees.  By  the  time,  then,  that  the 
hostility  of  Christian  Rome  brought  to  an  end  the  long  and 
honorable  activity  of  the  Palestinian  schools,  there  already 
existed  in  Babylon  a  great  center  of  Jewish  influence. 

Here  the  Jews  lived  in  peace.  They  were  farmers,  mer- 
chants, artisans.  They  enjoyed  almost  complete  political 
The  Resh  independence,  for  they  had  gradually  organized 
Gaiutha.  jnto  a  united  community,  with  one  of  their  own 
number  as  their  leader,  the  Resh  Gaiutha,  as  he  was  called, 
the  Head  of  the  Exile,  the  Prince  of  the  Captivity.  This 
official  was  chosen  from  among  the  descendants  of  the  house 
of  David,  and  so  there  clung  to  him  some  of  the  glamour 
of  that  royal  line.  He  was  the  civil  representative  of  the 
Jewish  people.  The  Babylonian  government  recognized  his 
authority;  when  he  appeared  at  court,  he  occupied  a  promi- 
nent position  among  the  high  dignitaries  of  the  state.  He 
supervised  the  collection  of  the  Jewish  revenue,  and  he  had 
the  important  power  of  appointing  the  judges.  Great  pomp 
and  ceremony  attended  his  installation.  Unlike  the  Nasi 


The  Makers  of  the  Talmud  39 

of  Palestine,  he  was  not  necessarily  a  scholar,  although  he 
was  often  a  man  of  great  learning. 

For  spiritual  and  religious  leadership,  however,  the  Jews 
looked,  not  to  the  Prince  of  the  Exile,  but  to  the  sages  at 
The  Schools  the  head  of  the  great  Babylonian  academies  at 
in  Babylonia.  Nehardea,  Sura,  and  Pumbeditha.  Here  as  in 
Palestine  the  schools  regarded  the  study  of  the  Mishnah  as 
their  chief  task.  That  there  were  such  places  of  learning 
as  these  in  Babylonia,  where  the  work  begun  in  Palestine 
could  go  on,  was  due  largely  to  the  efforts  of  two  Baby- 
lonian Jews,  Rab  and  Mar  Samuel. 

Rab's  real  name  was  Abba  Areka,  but  so  great  a  teacher 
was  he  that  people  referred  to  him  almost  always  as  Rab, 
the  Master — just  as  they  had  called  Judah  only 
Rabbi.  Rab  had  been  a  disciple  of  Judah,  and 
from  him  and  from  other  instructors  he  had  gained  so 
extraordinary  a  knowledge  of  the  traditional  lore  that,  when 
he  returned  to  his  native  land,  he  became  its  foremost  re- 
ligious leader.  Indeed  the  year  of  his  return  to  Babylonia 
is  recorded  in  the  annals  of  the  Babylonian  schools  as  the 
starting-point  of  a  new  era  in  the  development  of  Jewish 
thought  and  scholarship.  It  was  at  Nehardea  that  Rab 
first  lectured,  but  he  finally  established  a  school  of  his  own 
at  Sura.  So  great  was  the  renown  of  the  teacher  and  so 
numerous  were  the  hosts  of  pupils  who  came  to  him  from 
all  places  where  there  were  Jews,  that  Babylonia  soon  be- 
came the  center  of  influence  for  the  Jews  all  over  the  world. 

Rab  took  the  Mishnah  of  Judah  ha-Nasi  as  the  text  of 
his  study,  the  foundation  of  his  work.  To  it  he  added  other 
HU  Work  traditions  not  incorporated  in  the  Mishnah  and 
with  the  Law.  from  au  Of  them  he  derived  the  interpretation 
and  the  practical  application  of  the  religious  Law.  This 
work  his  pupils  continued,  so  that  a  great  body  of  opinions 
upon  the  Law  accumulated  as  a  result  of  the  labors  of  the 
great  master  and  his  disciples. 


40  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Rab  also  exerted  a  great  influence  for  good  upon  the 
moral  condition  of  his  people.  Many  of  his  sayings  are 
His  Moral  recorded,  rich  in  thoughts  concerning  the  moral 

Influence.  life ' 

"It  is  well  that  people  busy  themselves  with  the  study  of 
the  Law  and  the  performance  of  charitable  deeds,  even  when 
not  entirely  disinterested;  for  the  habit  of  right-doing  will 
finally  make  the  intention  pure." 

"Whosoever  hath  not  pity  upon  his  fellowman  is  no 
child  of  Abraham." 

"A  father  should  never  prefer  one  child  above  another; 
the  example  of  Joseph  shows  what  evil  results  may  follow 
therefrom." 

Rab  was  especially  interested  in  the  liturgy  of  the 
synagogue,  and  tradition  credits  him  with  the  authorship 

His  interest    °^  ^e  totty  Pravers  f°r  tne  New  Year  service, 
in  the  in  which  profound  religious  feeling  and  exalted 

thought  are  expressed  in  classically  beautiful 
Hebrew.  The  first  part  of  this  prayer  forms  the  close  of 
every  service,  and  in  some  adaptation  or  other  these  words 
must  be  familiar  to  every  Jew: 

"May  the  time  not  be  distant,  O  God,  when  Thy 'name 
shall  be  worshiped  over  all  the  earth,  when  unbelief  shall 
disappear  and  error  be  no  more.  We  fervently  pray  that 
the  day  may  come  upon  which  all  men  shall  invoke  thy 
name,  when  corruption  and  evil  shall  give  way  to  purity 
and  goodness,  when  superstition  shall  no  longer  enslave  the 
mind,  nor  idolatry  blind  the  eyes,  when  all  inhabitants  of 
the  earth  shall  perceive  that  to  Thee  alone  every  knee  must 
bend  and  every  tongue  give  homage.  O  may  all,  created  in 
Thy  image,  recognize  that  they  are  brethren,  so  that  they, 
one  in  spirit  and  one  in  fellowship,  may  be  forever  united 
before  Thee.  Then  shall  Thy  kingdom  be  established  on 
earth,  and  the  word  of  Thine  ancient  seer  be  fulfilled :  The 
Eternal  alone  shall  rule  forever  and  aye." 


The  Makers  of  the  Talmud  41 

Rab  lived  a  long  life,  blessed  with  prosperity  and  honor, 
and  when  he  died  the  Jews  of  Babylonia  mourned  for  him 
as  though  each  had  lost  a  father. 

Rab's  labors  were  shared  by  his   friend  and  colleague, 

Samuel,  generally  known  as  Mar  Samuel.     He  also  was  a 

pupil   of    Judah    ha-Nasi    and    came   back    from 

Samuel.  V.    ,         .  -,-.,.., 

Palestine  to  Babylonia  with  a  great  store  of 
learning,  which  he  imparted  to  eager  scholars  at  the  academy 
at  Nehardea.  Under  his  guidance  this  school  entered  upon 
a  brilliant  period.  After  the  death  of  Rab  it  became  the 
only  college  in  Babylonia,  and  Samuel  the  highest  authority 
among  the  Babylonian  Jews,  especially  in  matters  pertaining 
to  law. 

Samuel  was  a  modest  man,  gentle,  unselfish,  always  ready 
to  subordinate  his  own  interest  to  the  common  good.  It 
Hit  varied  was  a  saying  of  his  that  "a  man  may  never  ex- 
Actmtiei.  elude  himself  from  the  community,  but  must 
seek  his  welfare  in  that  of  society."  He  was  himself  a 
useful  member  of  society  in  many  ways,  not  only  as  minister 
to  the  spiritual  needs  of  his  people,  but  also  as  a  healer  of 
the  sick,  for  he  was  proficient  in  medicine.  He  was  an 
astronomer,  too,  and  followed  the  stars  in  their  courses  so 
zealously  that  he  could  say,  "The  paths  of  heaven  are  as 
familiar  to  me  as  the  streets  of  Nehardea."  His  astronom- 
ical knowledge  enabled  him  to  establish  a  fixed  calendar  to 
guide  the  people  as  to  the  time  of  celebrating  New  Moon 
and  Festivals.  It  was  Samuel,  moreover,  who  formulated 
the  important  principle  that  in  all  times  and  in  all  lands 
where  Jews  live,  the  civil  law  of  the  country  is  binding  upon 
the  Jews  as  a  religious  obligation.  Thus,  carrying  on  the 
teaching  of  Jeremiah,  he  made  obedience  to  the  law  of  the 
land  a  religious  duty,  and  showed  that  Judaism  and  love  of 
country  should  be  inseparably  connected. 

Samuel,  like  Rab,  did  much  to  make  the  Mishnah  clear. 
Even  Jochanan  ben  Nappacha  in  Palestine,  who  had  at  first 


42  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

reserved  the  title  Master  for  Rab,  and  who  had  been  willing 
His  Work       to  cau  $amuet  only  Colleague  —  even  he  came  to 

with   the  .          _.  ,  ,  ,  T          , 

see  that  Samuel,  too,  was  a  Master  in  Israel. 


Succeeding  generations  of  scholars  at  Sura  and  Nehardea 
and  at  a  new  school  in  Pumbeditha  carried  on  the  study 
of  the  Mishnah.  At  the  head  of  the  academy 
at  Sura  from  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century 
past  the  first  quarter  of  the  fifth  century  was  Ashi.  He 
was  still  very  young  when  he  was  honored  with  this  high 
position,  but  his  learning  was  so  great  that  the  older 
teachers  acknowledged  his  supremacy.  Under  him  the 
academy  at  Sura  regained  its  old  importance.  He  was  a 
man,  not  only  of  scholarly  standing,  but  of  commanding 
personality.  It  was  said  of  him  that  since  the  days  of 
Judah  ha-Nasi  "learning  and  social  distinction  were  never 
so  united  in  one  person  as  in  Ashi." 

Indeed  his  task  was  not  unlike  that  of  Judah.  Together 
with  his  disciples  and  the  scholars  gathered  in  Sura,  he  ap- 
R  bin!  plied  himself  to  collecting  and  arranging  all  those 

explanations  of  the  Mishnah  that  had  been 
handed  down  since  Judah  had  compiled  it  in  Palestine  about 
two  hundred  years  earlier.  And  difficult  as  Rabbi  Judah's 
task  had  been,  Ashi's  was  still  more  complicated.  He  had, 
however,  a  marvelous  memory  in  which  were  stored  the  ac- 
cumulated treasures  of  two  centuries  ;  and  he  had  the  mental 
grasp  and  the  power  of  analysis  and  classification  that  were 
necessary  to  systematize  the  bewildering  wealth  of  material 
that  he  had  collected.  For  more  than  half  a  century  he 
labored,  and  when  he  died  the  stupendous  work  was  still 
unfinished.  Two  succeeding  generations  worked  at  it  with 
the  same  self-forgetting  zeal.  Next  to  Ashi,  his  disciple 
and  successor,  Rabina,  had  the  greatest  share  in  the  com- 
pilation. Finally,  about  the  year  500,  the  great  work  was 
completed  by  another  president  of  the  college  in  Sura,  a 
second  Rabina. 


The  Makers  of  the  Talmud 


43 


We  call  the  collection  Gemara.  which  means  Completion. 
for  it   constitutes    as;   y"»  ko^»»  ipfiiy  ft  comprehensive   sup- 


or    Study. 


on  tnat  text.     Mishnah  and  Gemara  together  are  known  by 

thename  of  TalmuHT  a  nnnr[  former!  from  a  yerb 

to    teach,    and    signifying, 

This  term  was  originally  applied  to  the  Gemara  only;  but 

it  has  become  customary  to  use  the  word  tQ  cover  the  whole 

work—  the    Mishnah^    or    textr    and    the    Gemara,    or   com- 

mentary. 

It  'is  necessary  to  note,  too,  that  the  Gemara  has  come 
down  to  us  in  two  forms,  different  in  contents  and  in  im- 
The  portance.  Before  the  Palestinian  schools  had 

Palestinian  «€««.  «  /v  •        t.    • 

Talmud  closed,  they  had  made  an  effort  to  commit  their 
and  the  intellectual  treasures  to  writing,  so  that  perse- 

Babylonian 

Talmud.  cution  could  not  rob  the  Jews  that  should  come 
after  them  of  their  rightful  heritage.  In  the  fourth  century, 
however,  as  we  have  already  seen,  they  were  forced  to 
bring  these  labors  to  an  end.  Accordingly  the  Palestinian 
Talmud,  or  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  as  it  is  often  less  ac- 
curately  called,  is  not  nearly  so  large  as  the  Talmud  that 
was__rnrpp]ptfd  jn  fbq  ]p.isnrft  and  quiet  of  the  Babylonian 


schools.  The  Babylonian  Talmucj  b^  bprome  of  far 
greater  importance,  and  is,  indeed,  the  work  that  we  usually 
havein  mind  when  we  speak  o^  the  Talmud. 

"Asthe  Mishnah  is  a  code  of  law,  thf  GtfJUaniii  as  com- 
mentary OR  It,  contains,  nrst  and  foremost,  laws  and  com- 
Haiachahand  ments  on  laws.  This  material  is  called  Halachah. 
Haggadah.  a  term  which  comes  from  a  Hebrew  word  mean- 
ing  to  walk,  and  which  therefore  signifies  the  way  to  walk, 
the  nght  pat  ft.  feut  the  Gomora  13  far  more  than  a  law 
book.  It  contains  matter  far  more  ins^>irin^  to  the  mind 
of  the  average  modern  reader  than  legal  reports  and  rulings. 
The  Amoraim,  in  their  classrooms  in, 

•  f  ^ ^ «»^ ^ "^ **" 

Jon,  foften   enlivened  thg^r  <3i^rnnrsc   with — suiiitJ — inteTSsting 


44 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


anecdote,  some  bit  of  history,  some  fable  or  parable  or 
allegory  intended  to  illustrate  a  moral  truth.  Then,  too, 
because  of  the  close  relationship  that  existed  in  Talmtidic 
times  between  life  and  literature,  because  of  the  fact  that 
the  schofers  shared  every  interest  of  the  people  and  found 
in  the  Law  the  germ  of  all  mental  activity,  the  Talmud 
draws  within  its  scope  all  the  varied  branches  of  secular 
^/•v^yi^^-p  fnit  vrtrt  in_existence  at  the  time  ot  its  compiia- 
tion — medicine  and  anatomy,  botany,  mathematigSj  and 
astron9my  All  thfgr  iwflg*"',  which  are  not  IJalachah — 
alithis  legend,  history,  ethics,  secular  knowledge — are  called 
HapgadahT  which  means  thai  wkick  is  told,  U  popular  tale, 
and  therefore  indicates  an  individual  utterancef  with  no 
claim  to  binding  authority  The  llalachah  is  the  general  law, 
accepted  by  all  the  peopjp;  thp  Tiagrgaqan  is  the  Expression 
of  individual  opinion,  suggestive,  stimulating,  inspiring,  but 
not  necessarily  authoritative. 

But  although  the  Haggadah  did  not  have  the  weight  of 
the  Halachah,  it  is  in  its  way  as  precious  a  legacy.  Special 
laws  may  lose  their  significance,  for  conditions 
change,  and  rulings  practicable  in  Palestine  or  in 
Babylon  in  the  third  or  fourth  century,  are  not  always  ap- 
plicable in  Europe  or  in  America  in  the  twentieth  century. 
The  beautiful  old  sayings,  however,  expressing  what  each  of 
the  saintly  rabbis  of  the  ancient  world  had  thought  out  for 
himself  about  God,  and  man,  and  the  hope  and  the  vision 
of  the  future,  are  as  living  a  force  for  good  to-day  as  they 
were  fifteen  hundred  years  ago.  Each  profound  thought 
in  the  Haggadah  has  its  individual  personal  message  for 
the  modern  mind.  One  rabbi,  for  example,  says:  "God 
prays.  He  prays,  'May  my  mercy  prevail  over  my  justice'." 
This  startling  statement  at  once,  by  its  very  daring,  chal- 
lenges attention  and  provokes  thought.  By  means  of  it  the 
rabbi  meant  to  make  us  ask  ourselves  the  question:  what, 
then,  is  prayer?  Evidently,  since  one  can  think  of  God  as 


Haggadab. 


The  Makers  of  the  Talmud  45 

praying,  it  cannot  be  selfish  petition  for  special  favor.  No, 
the  prayer  that  the  rabbi  attributes  to  God  answers  our 
question.  Prayer  is  an  appeal  to  our  higher  nature.  It  is 
aspiration  towards  the  perfect  good.  Now  the  form  into 
which  the  rabbi  put  his  thought  we  can  accept  or  reject  at 
will:  it  is  not  forced  upon  our  belief.  It  has  accomplished 
its  purpose  when  it  has  made  us  speculate  on  the  function 
of  prayer.  It  is  just  one  man's  individual  expression  of 
the  noble  truth  that  prayer  is  a  constant  striving  upward. 
And  it  is  just  such  thoughts  as  this,  ethically  and  spiritually 
uplifting,  that  make  the  Haggadah  a  source  of  continuous 
inspiration.  Even  if  we  do  not  ourselves  go  to  the  Talmud 
to  read  these  sublime  jtruths.  they  reach  us  an^  influence 
i*r  Thrn^prh  nnr  preachers ;  we  hear  them  in  th<*  sqptuflffi  nf 

OUr    rahhJa.       AlmOS^  Without    conscious    effort    pn     r.iir    part, 

they  become  an  important  element  ot  our  religious  life. 
"Ppr,  ^l  tirnj&_they  are  engraved  upon  the  Jewish  conscious- 
ness. 

It  was  in  the  Haggadah  that  the  great  poet  Heine  found 

".    .    .     the   beautiful   old   sagas, 
Legends  dim,  and  angel-fables, 
Pious  stories  of  the   martyrs, 
Festal  hymns  and  proverbs  wise, 
And  hyperboles  the  drollest, 
But  withal  so  strong  and  burning 
With   belief.     .     .     ." 

It  is  from  the  Haggadah  that  poets  of  other  races  than 
ours  have  drawn  inspiration.  Longfellow  sings: 

"Have  you  read  in  the  Talmud  of  old, 
In  the  legends  the  Rabbins  have  told 

Of  the  limitless  realms  of  the  air, 
Have  you  read  it, — the  marvelous  story 
Of  Sandalphon,  the  Angel  of  Glory, 

Sandalphon,   the   Angel   of   Prayer?** 


46 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


For  although  the  Talmud  was  not  compiled  with  a  con- 
sciously literary  purpose,  the  mystical  tales  of  the  Haggadah 
have  all  the  sublimity  of  the  highest  poetry. 

Men  of  science,  too,  go  to  the  Talmud  to-day  for  infor- 
rnation^about_  the  history  ofciyilization,  because  fa  was 
practically,  as  we  have  seeri/an  encyclopedia  of  secular 
knowledge  as  possessed  by  the  Jew.  And  on  account  oi  its 
gfnrpnf  information  on  allsuBJects  it  has  been  through  the 
5ges  a  training  school  for  the  Jewish  intellect.  In  the 
darkest  periods  we  shall  see  the  Jews,  shut  in  ur^nn  t£eir 
own  resources  and  denied  any  outside  culture—  still,  ^mti^ji 
their  study  of  the  Talmud,  keeping  their  rrn'nd*  V^prL  and 


active^ 

But  jt  is  not  in  its  historical  or  in  its  educational  value 
that  the  true  significance  of  the  Talmud   lies.     More   im- 

portant  by   far,   its  sujjlime  ethicil   and   religious 

teaching  fostered  among  the 

-,  -  -»—  -  --  '7.  T  -  ft  -  ~   ,       .    .          -r    <-' 

o  i  morality,  which  even  constant  hujmnntinn  wnd 
persecution  could  not  lower.     It  held  the  sorely 

oppressed  people  true  to  the  ideals  of  thpir  faith.     Jt  jn" 

soTred  tHefa  witn  tales  ot  the 


The  Value 
and 

Significance 

of  the 
Talmud. 


and  by  reminding  them  of  all  .  that  they  had  m  common. 
wherever  they  were  scattered,  it  constituted  a  bond,  keeping 
them  united  in  thought  and  feeling. 

The  Talmud  has  had  almost  as   eventful  a  history   as 
the  p< 


It8 
Eventful 


the  course  of  about  eight  ppfiforjgp 
Enemies  flf  J11^g<cn  have  attacked  it 


represents. 


supporting  their  charges  with  disconnected  pas- 
sages which  they  have  distorted  to  suit  their  own  hostile 
purposes.  Church  and  state  have  forbidden  the  Jews  to 
study  it,  have  confiscated  it,  aricT'bm'iitJ  ft:  —  It  is  true  that 

srittlPh'HIPg    gPVEnfy    nl    pprcp^nfi'nn    fr>rrW[  frnm    ^fttnp    scholar 

in   his   anguish   an   utterance   of   passion.      It   is   true   that 
legends  of  wondrous  beauty  are   found  on  the   same  page 


The  Makers  of  the  Talmud  47 

with  anecdotes  that  seem  to  us  childish.  It  is  true  that  the 
modern  mind  often  wearies  of  minute  discussions  of  prob- 
lems that  were  brought  up  merely  to  exercise  scholastic 
ingenuity  in  unraveling  them.  But  these  are  defects  that 
would  be  found  in  far  greater  number  in  the  literature  of 
any  other  nation  for  a  period  of  one  thousand  years  if  it 
were  bound  together  in  one  vast  library.  What  we  should 
find  it  hard  to  parallel  in  other  literature  wpuld  bfj7"»tltfi<* 
diifipilties,  *Hf  p^"i;?r.,yQlf  *n<\  ^^~Mpmighf(i  rrf  tht  Tal- 
mud, but  the  noble  teachings  of  the  great  sages  on  those 
fundamental  questions  which  are  the  same  in  all  ages,  on 
man_jnjhisjrelation  to  the  human  race  and  fr>  fifd,  nn  love, 
andtruth,  and  peace.  And  indeed  even  in  the  darkest 
times,  enlightened  Christians  Hav^-fead  the  honesty  to  appre- 
ciate its  worth,  and  the  courage,  boldly,  shoulder  to  shoulder 
with  the  despised  Jews,  to  defend  it  against  those  who 
reviled  it. 

STORIES  AND  SAYINGS  FROM  THE  TALMUD. 

Consider  three  things  and  thou  wilt  never  fall  into  sin: 
remember  that  there  is  above  thee  an  Eye  that  sees  all,  an 
Ear  that  hears  all,  and  a  Hand  that  keeps  a  record  of  all 
thine  actions. 

Be  not  like  servants,  who  serve  their  master  for  the  sake 
of  reward. 

The  ultimate  end  of  all  knowledge  and  wisdom  is  man's 
inner  purification  and  the  performance  of  good  and  noble 
deeds. 

Great  is  the  dignity  of  labor;  it  honors  a  man. 

He  who  does  not  teach  his  son  a  handicraft  neglects  his 
duty  as  a  parent. 

To  break  a  verbal  agreement,  though  legally  not  binding, 
is  a  moral  wrong. 

The  merit  of  charitable  works  is  in  proportion  to  the 
love  with  which  they  are  practised. 


48  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Blessed  is  he  who  gives  to  the  poor;  twice  blessed  is  he 
who  accompanies  his  gift  with  kind,  comforting  words. 

The  noblest  of  all  charities  is  enabling  the  poor  to  earn 
a  livelihood. 

Where  children  honor  their  parents,  there  God  dwells, 
there  He  is  honored. 

Reverence  mother  and  father  by  neither  sitting  in  their 
seats  nor  standing  in  their  places,  by  not  interrupting  their 
speech  nor  criticising  their  arguments,  and  by  giving  heed 
to  their  wishes. 

To  him  who  lacks  nobility  of  heart,  nobility  of  blood  is 
of  no  avail. 

The  greatest  of  heroes  is  he  who  turns  an  enemy  into  a 
friend. 

The  world  depends  on  the  children  in  the  school. 

A  single  coin  in  a  jar  makes  the  most  noise. 

Judge  not  your  neighbor  until  you   stand  in   his   place. 

Go  to  sleep  without  supper,  but  rise  without  debt. 

One  should  not  partake  of  his  own  meal  until  his  ani- 
mals are  first  provided  for. 

It  is  sinful  to  hate,  but  noble  to  forgive. 

As  the  ocean  never  freezes,  so  the  gate  of  repentance 
is  never  closed. 

Rather  be  persecuted  than  persecutor. 


A  rabbi  had  for  sale  a  jewel  for  which  he  asked  ten 
pieces  of  gold.  Some  merchants  offered  him  five  pieces, 
but  the  rabbi  declined,  and  the  merchants  left  him.  Upon 
second  consideration,  the  rabbi  decided  that  he  would  let 
them  have  the  jewel  for  five  pieces. 

The  next  day,  as  the  rabbi  was  at  prayer,  the  mer- 
chants returned.  "Sir,"  said  they,  "we  come  to  you  again 


The  Makers  of  the  Talmud  49 

in  order  to  do  business  after  all.  Do  you  wish  to  part  with 
the  jewel  for  the  price  we  offered  you?"  The  rabbi  made 
no  reply.  "Well,"  they  continued,  "do  not  be  angry;  we 
will  add  another  two  pieces."  Still  the  rabbi  remained  silent. 
"Well,  then,  be  it  as  you  say,"  they  said  at  length.  "We 
will  give  you  the  ten  pieces,  the  price  you  asked." 

By  this  time  the  rabbi  had  ended  his  prayer,  and  he  said 
to  them:  "Gentlemen,  I  was  at  prayer,  and  could  not  in- 
terrupt my  devotions.  As  for  the  jewel,  I  had  already 
resolved  upon  selling  it  at  the  price  you  offered  me  yester- 
day. If  you  pay  me  five  pieces  of  gold,  I  shall  be  satisfied ; 
more  I  can  not  take." 


One  day  Abraham  invited  into  his  tent  an  old  man,  weary 
and  travel-worn,  who  had  been  searching  for  his  scattered 
herd  of  cattle.  For  his  guest  Abraham  had  a  goodly  feast 
prepared,  but  before  they  ate,  Abraham  invoked  God's 
blessing.  His  guest,  however,  refused  to  join  him  in  prayer, 
and,  on  being  asked  his  reason,  acknowledged  that  he  was 
a  fire-worshipper.  Abraham,  full  of  indignation,  drove  the 
man  from  his  tent.  As  the  man  departed,  an  angel  of  the 
Lord  appeared  to  Abraham  and  said:  "The  Lord  has  had 
patience  with  this  ignorant  man  these  seventy  years;  could 
you  not  have  patiently  suffered  him  for  one  night?" 

So  Abraham  hastily  recalled  the  old  man,  urged  him  to 
partake  of  the  food  that  had  been  prepared,  and  sent  out 
his  young  men  to  find  the  missing  cattle.  When  they  had 
returned  with  the  cattle,  he  ordered  them  to  assist  the  trav- 
eler to  drive  the  herd  home.  At  this  the  old  man  blessed 
Abraham  and  said  that  his  kindness  had  made  a  believer 
of  him,  and  that  his  heart,  too,  glowed  now  with  the  desire 
to  be  of  service  to  his  fellowmen. 


50  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Deutsch,  Emanuel:     The  Talmud. 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  V,  Note  2,  p.  397. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  II,  Chapters  XVIII,  XIX,  XX, 

XXI,  XXII,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  6ff. 
Harris,  M. :    A  Thousand  Years  of  Jewish  History,  pp.  250-277. 


Jewish  Encyclopedia 
Jewish  Encyclopedia 
Jewish  Encyclopedia 
Jewish  Encyclopedia 
Jewish  Encyclopedia 
Jewish  Encyclopedia 


Vol.  XII,  pp.   1-26,  Article   Talmud. 

Vol.  VII,  p.  221,  Article  Johanan  b.  Nappaha. 

Vol.  I,  p.  29,  Article  Abba  Arikah. 

Vol.  II,  p.  187,  Article  Ashi. 

Vol.  VI,  p.  651,  Article  Islam. 

Vol.  V,  p.  567,  Article  Gaon. 


Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  66-79. 

Schuerer,  E. :    A  History  of  the  Jewish  People,  Div.  I,  Vol.  1,  p.  134  S. 

Taylor,  Charles :    Sayings  of  the  Jewish  Fathers. 


VI. 
ANAN  BEN  DAVID. 

At  the  colleges  in  Babylonia  scholars  went  on  with  the 
study  of  the  Talmud.  They  added  to  it  nothing  essentially 

new;  but  they  made  clear  and  definite  those 
Saboraim  points  that  had  been  left  vague  by  the  Amoraim, 

and  they  often  decided  which  of  two  opinions 
under  consideration  was  the  more  practical.  Their  work 
was  really  editing  or  revising  the  Talmud,  and  they  are 
therefore  given  the  name  of  Saboraim,  which  means  revisers 
or  critics.  When  they  had  finished  their  task,  they  left  the 
Talmud  in  practically  the  form  in  which  we  have  it  today. 
It  was  fortunate  that  the  Babylonian  Jews  put  their 
intellectual  treasures  in  permanent  form  when  they  did; 

for    no    sooner   had    they    completed    their    work 
'"     w*tn  tne  Talmud  than  a  succession  of  weak  and 

incompetent  kings  followed  one  another  on  the 
Persian  throne,  and  in  the  resulting  lack  of  justice  and 
order,  the  Jews  in  eastern  lands  suffered.  Their  schools 
were  closed,  and  a  Prince  of  the  Captivity  was  hanged. 
This  misrule  continued  until,  in  the  seventh  century,  a 
remarkable  man,  with  the  establishment  of  a  new  religion, 
changed  the  history  of  both  East  and  West. 

This  man  was  Mohammed.  He  was  born  in  the  year 
569  of  the  Christian  era,  in  Mecca,  Arabia.  The  Arabians 
among  whom  he  lived  were  worshippers  of  the  sun,  the 
moon,  the  stars.  Wells,  trees,  stones  were  regarded  as  sacred, 

51 


52  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

as    containing    a    deity.      Even    before    Mohammed's    time, 

however,    Arabian    paganism    had    been    in    con- 
Mohammed.  .          ,        .   _  ...      .  ,      __      .  , 
tact  with  other  influences,  Jewish,   Persian,  and 

Christian.  Mohammed  saw  power,  civilization,  and  learning 
associated  with  the  monotheism  of  Judaism,  the  dualism  of 
the  Persian  belief,  and  the  trinitarianism  of  the  Christians. 
Paganism  was  the  religion  only  of  ignorance  and  barbarism. 
In  the  light  of  Jewish  and  Christian  teaching,  the  gross 
idolatry  of  Arabia  became  repulsive  to  Mohammed.  The 
idea  of  abolishing  it  and  substituting  a  purer,  a  more  spir- 
itual faith  became  his  dominant  purpose.  He  seems  to  have 
been  especially  impressed  by  the  personality  of  the  founders 
of  the  religious  systems  of  the  civilized  world.  He,  too, 
aspired  to  occupy  the  position  of  mouthpiece  of  the  Deity. 
God  had  sent  a  prophet,  he  thought,  to  each  people:  Moses 
was  the  prophet  of  the  Jews;  Jesus  was  the  prophet  of  the 
Christians.  Mohammed  felt  that  he  was  not  only  the 
prophet  sent  to  the  Arabians;  he  was  the  "seal  of  the 
prophets,"  the  last  of  the  succession  of  divinely  inspired 
leaders.  That  he  was  this,  was  and  is  one  of  the  main 
articles  of  the  Mohammedan  faith. 

Mohammed  thought  that  his  mission  was  a  restoration 
of  the  religion  of  Abraham,  or,  as  the  Arabs  call  him, 
Ibrahim.  This  religion  of  Mohammed  is  gen- 
erally known  as  Islam,  the  name  given  to  it  by 
Mohammed  himself,  and  meaning  the  submitting  of  oneself 
to  God,  for  a  complete  submission  to  the  will  of  God  he 
considered  the  necessary  condition  of  religious  life.  The 
participle  of  the  same  Arabic  verb,  Muslim,  in  English 
usually  spelled  Moslem,  is  the  name  given  to  the  followers 
of  Mohammed.  As  God  had  given  to  the  Jews  the  Law  and 
to  the  Christians  the  Gospels,  so  Mohammed  believed  that 
to  him  God  revealed  the  Koran,  the  holy  book  of  his  faith. 
A  study  of  the  Koran  shows  an  acquaintance  with  the  teach- 
ings of  Judaism  and  Christianity,  but  an  imperfect  acquaint- 


Anon  ben  David  53 

ance,  for  it  was  from  his  contemporaries  that  Mohammed 
gained  his  knowledge,  from  the  common  people  who  recited 
to  him  stories  of  the  creation,  the  patriarchs,  and  the  early 
kings  and  prophets. 

The  doctrine  to  which  the  Prophet  himself  assigned 
most  value  was  the  unity  of  God.  This  he  set  against  the 
"There  u  °^  idolatrous  worship,  and  he  emphasized  it  as 
no  God  but  against  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity. 
"There  is  no  God  but  Allah"  is  the  first  part 
of  the  Moslem  creed.  Fear  of  the  judgment  of  God  is  a 
motive  of  action.  Charity  is  enjoined  as  a  duty.  The 
efficacy  of  prayer  is  insisted  upon.  The  Koran  calls  the 
Moslem  to  prayer  five  times  a  day.  At  first  the  wor- 
shiper faced  Jerusalem,  but  later  the  direction  was  changed 
to  Mecca.  Absolute  justice  and  sincerity  are  demanded. 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  good 
in  Mohammed's  religious  precepts.  His  noblest  principles 
„  .  .  he  derived  from  Judaism.  Unfortunately,  how- 

Rclation  to  .  J 

Judaism.  ever,  in  order  to  make  these  pure  doctrines  ac- 
ceptable to  the  hostile  Arabians,  he  compromised 
with  paganism:  he  took  over  customs  connected  with  the 
old  heathen  pilgrimage  to  the  sacred  Black  Stone  at  Mecca, 
and  he  painted  for  the  wild  Arab  soul  a  Moslem  Paradise 
and  a  Moslem  Hell  with  colors  that  seem  to  us  very  earthly, 
very  material  and  sensual. 

At  first  Mohammed  and  his  followers  worked  in  secret, 
so  that  when  he  did  come  forward  publicly  he  was  already 
_  .  the  head  of  a  devoted  band.  Of  course  he  en- 

Hegira.  ... 

countered  violent  opposition.  Argument  was  suc- 
ceeded by  personal  insult,  and  then  by  force.  He  was  com- 
pelled to  flee,  and  he  chose  as  a  refuge  a  place  they  now 
call  Medina.  The  East  dates  its  era  from  this  Flight,  this 
Hegira.  There  the  Prophet's  followers  grew.  At  last  he 
found  himself  the  leader  of  a  numerous  sect,  the  mighty 


54  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

ruler  of  victorious  armies  that  were  to  shake  the  proudest 
empires  of  the  world. 

Coming  as  a  prophet  of  the  Israelitish  God,  Mohammed 

hoped  to  win  over  to  his  new  religion  the  Jews  of  Arabia. 

Here   the    Jews    had    lived    from    a    very    early 

of  Arabia:      period.     They  were  respected  and  liked  by  their 

Samuel  neighbors,   and   by   Mohammed's   time  they    had 

ibn  Adijrah         -  «     .  .  . 

formed  themselves  into  communities  that  enjoyed 
no  little  prosperity  and  power.  Perhaps  the  most  famous 
of  these  Arabian  Jews  was  Samuel  ibn  Adiyah,  warrior  and 
poet.  At  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  century,  Samuel  was 
living  like  a  prince  in  a  strong  castle  upon  a  high  hill. 
Like  his  Arab  neighbors,  he  was  able  to  shape  his  glorious 
adventures  into  song.  With  a  warrior's  vigor  and  courage 
he  sang  the  high  ideal  of  honor  of  the  Jew.  And  no  one 
had  a  better  right  than  he  to  vindicate  that  honor;  his  life 
illustrates  his  song.  One  day  there  came  to  Samuel's  castle 
an  Arabian  warrior-poet  and  prince  of  wide  renown,  seeking 
refuge  from  his  enemies.  He  was  hard  pressed,  his  fol- 
lowers had  abandoned  him,  and  he  had  fled  from  tribe  to 
tribe  in  fruitless  quest  of  protection  and  support.  At  last 
men  had  told  him  to  seek  out  the  Jew,  Samuel :  no  place 
was  better  fitted  for  refuge  than  Samuel's  hilltop  castle; 
no  man  was  more  faithful  than  the  Jewish  prince.  Samuel 
received  the  fugitive  with  that  hospitality  which  the  Arabs 
hold  high  as  a  virtue,  and  sheltered  him  with  faith  and 
devotion. 

Later  the  Arab  left  the  protection  of  Samuel,  to  seek 
at  the  court  of  Justinian  assistance  to  regain  his  lost  power 
and  possessions.  Before  he  went,  he  entrusted  to  Samuel's 
keeping  his  daughter  and  his  arms.  He  never  returned. 
Arab  tradition  tells  us  that  he  was  poisoned  on  his  home- 
ward journey  by  order  of  Justinian,  who  had  listened  to 
false  accusations  against  him. 

No  sooner  had  he  started  on  his  journey,  than  his  ene- 


Anan  ben  David  55 

mies  hastened  to  Samuel's  castle  and  demanded  the  sur- 
render of  his  armor.  But  Samuel  would  not  be  false  to  his 
trust,  and  so  the  enemy  laid  siege.  The  castle  resisted  their 
wild  attacks.  Then  one  day,  Samuel's  youngest  son,  ven- 
turing too  far,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  savage 
chief  called  upon  the  father  to  choose  between  giving  up 
the  armor  and  seeing  his  son  killed.  Samuel  hesitated  only 
a  moment.  Then  he  spoke:  "My  son  has  brothers,  but  my 
honor,  once  lost,  can  never  be  recovered."  The  enemy 
struck  off  the  boy's  head  before  the  eyes  of  the  unhappy 
father,  and  then  withdrew,  seeing  that  against  such  stead- 
fastness all  fighting  would  be  in  vain.  It  is  no  wonder  that 
Samuel's  fidelity  to  his  promise,  kept  at  such  awful  cost, 
won  him  the  epithet  "faithful,"  and  that  the  incident  gave 
rise  to  a  saying  still  common  among  the  Arabs,  "as  faithful 
as  Samuel." 

These  Jews,  although  they  were  like  the  Arabs  in  man- 
ners and  customs,  were  loyal  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers, 
and  were  united  in  spirit  with  their  brothers  in 

Mohammed  s      T,    t.    »       •  it*  •»«•    i  t  i  •    n 

Attitude  Babylonia.  At  first  Mohammed  sought  to  innu- 
towards  ence  them  with  argument  and  persuasion.  But 

the  Jews.  ...... 

he  soon  found  that  there  was  no  possibility  of 
compromise  with  the  Jews  on  religious  questions.  It  was 
then  that  he  pressed  his  teachings  with  the  sword.  Exile 
and  massacre  made  Arabia  wholly  Moslem.  Thus  Islam, 
the  second  religion  to  spring  from  the  faith  of  Israel  and 
to  help  in  the  great  work  of  civilizing  the  world  by  spread- 
ing among  the  heathen  the  Jewish  conception  of  one  God, 
in  Arabia,  its  home  country,  at  first  made  life  harder  for 
the  followers  of  the  older  faith. 

Later,  however,  Mohammed  found  his  policy  of  extermi- 
nation very  wasteful  and  unwise.  He  found  it  more  prac- 
tical to  leave  unbelievers  in  possession  of  their  property, 
and  to  exact  from  them  a  fixed  proportion  as  tribute.  When 
the  Moslems  reached  Babylonia,  therefore,  the  Jews,  suffer- 


56  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

ing  under  misrule,  welcomed  the  flag  of  the  crescent  with 

joy.     The  conquering  Mohammedans  restored  to  the  Prince 

of  the  Captivity  his  old   dignity   and  power.     The   schools 

were  reopened,  and  to  their  head  was  given  the  honorable 

title  of   Gaon    (plural,    Gaonim),   which   means   Excellency. 

These  Gaonim  were  recognized  as  spiritual  and  religious 

leaders,    not    only    by    Babylonian    Jews,    but    by    all    Jews 

throughout  the  world.     From  all  countries  where 

The  Gaonim.      _  ,.        ,  _  _ 

Jews  lived,  scholars  came  to  Sura  and  Pumbedi- 
tha  there  to  study,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Gaonim,  the 
literature  of  their  fathers.  From  the  remotest  lands,  too, 
came  messengers  with  gifts  for  the  support  of  the  schools, 
and  with  questions  for  the  Gaonim  to  answer.  For  it  was 
to  the  Gaonim  that  the  Jews  referred  all  the  problems  that 
perplexed  them  in  their  social  and  religious  life.  In  answer- 
ing these  questions,  the  Gaonim  were  carrying  on  the  work 
of  the  long  succession  of  sages:  they  were  keeping  the 
Jewish  life  of  the  day  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  his- 
torical, traditional  Judaism.  Their  decisions  were  reverently 
obeyed,  and  their  answers  were  carefully  preserved.  These 
Answers,  or  Responsa,  form  indeed  a  considerable  literature ; 
they  are  clear  and  concise,  and  are  in  great  part  as  fresh 
and  vivid  to-day  as  when,  in  those  remote  times,  messengers 
brought  them  to  waiting  congregations. 

It  may  interest  you  to  know  what  went  on  within  the 
walls  of  the  schools  over  which  the  Gaonim  presided  so 
In  a  many  centuries  ago.  Twice  a  year  foreign 

Babylonian  scholars  assembled  in  the  colleges  for  common 
study.  When  the  session  opened,  the  Gaon 
faced  seventy  members  of  the  academy.  In  the  first  rows 
sat  the  masters,  and  behind  them  the  other  members  of  the 
school.  During  the  first  three  weeks  of  the  month,  the 
scholars  seated  in  the  first  row  reported  on  the  Talmudic 
treatise  that  had  been  assigned  them  for  their  own  special 
study  during  the  preceding  months.  In  the  fourth  week 


A  nan  ben  David  57 

the  other  scholars  and  also  some  of  the  pupils  were  called 
upon.  Discussions  followed,  and  especially  difficult  pas- 
sages were  laid  before  the  Gaon.  He  also  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  debates,  and  freely  reproved  any  member  of  the 
college  who  fell  below  the  prevailing  standard  of  scholar- 
ship. At  the  end  of  the  month  the  Gaon  assigned  the 
Talmudic  treatises  which  the  scholars  were  to  study  during 
the  months  before  the  next  assembly.  The  students  who 
were  not  given  regular  seats  were  exempt  from  these 
definite  tasks,  being  free  to  choose  for  study  any  subject 
in  which  they  were  particularly  interested. 

During  the  spring  assembly,  the   Gaon   laid  before  the 

college  every  day  a  certain  number  of  the  questions   that 

had  been  sent  in  during  the  year.     The  answers 

The    Kallah  * 

or  Assembly,  were  discussed,  and  were  finally  recorded  by  the 
secretary  according  to  the  instructions  of  the 
Gaon.  At  the  end  of  the  month,  questions  and  answers 
were  read  to  the  assembly,  and  the  answers  were  signed  by 
the  Gaon.  Many  answers,  however,  the  Gaonim  wrote 
without  consulting  the  assembly. 

The  remaining  months  of  the  year  passed  more  quietly 
at  the  colleges.  Many  of  the  students  lived  in  remote 
districts  and  appeared  before  the  Gaonim  only  at  the  time 
of  the  assemblies.  Those  scholars  who  came  to  the  col 
lege  during  the  assembly  months  received  support  from  a 
fund  which  was  maintained  by  the  gifts  sent  to  the  college. 
You  can  get  an  idea  of  the  size  of  the  colleges  from  the  fact 
that  during  the  tenth  century  the  students  numbered  about 
four  hundred.  From  these  schools  in  Babylonia  Jewish 
learning  spread  throughout  the  world. 

In  spite  of  this  apparent  unity,  however,  there  were 
those  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  methods  of  the  col- 
leges at  Sura  and  Pumbeditha.  They  protested  against  the 
exclusive  study  of  the  oral  law.  Long  before  this  the  Sad- 
ducees  had  rejected  all  tradition,  all  rabbinical  interpretation 


58  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

and  explanation,  and  had  insisted  on  the  letter  of  the  Mosaic 
code  of  law.     Now  again,  as  in  the  days  of  the 

Opposition  .  .  . 

to  the  Sadducees,  there  came  this   reaction   against  the 

Methods  of      methods  of  the  rabbis.    And  now  it  was  strength- 

the  Schools.  *    . 

ened  because  the  Jews  saw  that  among  their 
Arabian  neighbors  the  faithful  adherents  of  the  Koran 
were  opposing  the  authority  of  the  Mohammedan  tradition 
that  had  grown  up  about  their  sacred  book. 

In  the  second  half  of  the  eighth  century  these  discon- 
tented spirits  in  Israel  found  an  energetic  and  determined 

leader  in  Anan  ben  David.     Anan  had  expected 
en       to    become    Prince    of    the    Captivity;    but    the 

Gaonim,  in  whose  hands  the  power  of  appoint- 
ment lay,  had  passed  over  him,  and  had  chosen  his  younger 
brother.  Embittered  by  this  disappointment,  Anan  openly 
proclaimed  his  hostility  to  the  rabbinical,  Talmudical  inter- 
pretation of  the  Scriptures.  He  ridiculed  those  Jews  who 
followed  the  minutely  detailed  instructions  of  the  rabbis 
with  what  he  called  blind  obedience.  Like  the  Sadducees, 
he  claimed  the  right  to  cast  aside  all  the  interpretations  that 
had  come  down  through  the  ages  and  to  go  directly  to  the 
Bible  as  the  only  source  of  religious  inspiration.  His  watch- 
word was  "Search  diligently  in  the  Scripture;"  and  his  fol- 
lowers accordingly  called  themselves  Karaites, 
Followers  of  the  Scripture. 

Now  the  laws  of  the  Bible,  tested  in  the  crucible  of 
centuries  and  found  good,  were,  nevertheless,  not  always 
The  sufficiently  detailed,  as  we  have  seen,  for  prac- 

Harshness       tical  application  to  the  needs  of  daily  life.     They 


[  araism.  j^  ajwavs  to  be  explained,  to  be  adapted  to  new 
conditions.  The  Karaites,  in  following  literally  the  injunc- 
tions of  the  Bible  and  in  discarding  those  traditions  that 
represented  the  religious  experience  of  their  race  through 
the  ages,  made  the  Biblical  laws  irksome  and  harsh  in  prac- 
tice. The  great  sages,  you  will  remember,  had  always,  on 


Aiian  ben  David  59 

the  contrary,  tried  so  to  interpret  them  as  to  make  obedience 
to  them  a  pleasure  and  not  a  grievous  burden.  On  the  Sab- 
bath, for  example,  the  Karaites  would  allow  literally  no 
work,  not  even  the  administering  of  medicine  in  cases  of 
serious  illness.  And  they  abolished  the  celebration  of  our 
joyous  Feast  of  Chanuka,  because,  naturally,  they  found 
no  sanction  for  it  in  the  Bible.  From  these  instances  you 
can  see  that  Karaism  was  harsh  and  cold,  that  it  lacked 
the  warmth  and  humanity,  the  poetry  and  inspiration  of 
traditional  Judaism. 

And  yet  its  impulse  was  sound.  Its  criticism  of  the 
methods  of  the  Babylonian  schools  was,  in  a  measure,  just, 
its  Merits  Karaism  was  right  when  it  asserted  that  the 
•nd  its  Talmudists,  or  the  Rabbinites,  as  they  were  called, 

had  made  the  study  of  the  Talmud  little  more 
than  a  matter  of  memory.  From  this  storing  up  and 
treasuring  of  voluminous,  detailed  commentaries  it  tried  to 
rescue  Judaism;  it  sought  to  restore  to  it  the  simplicity  of 
the  Bible  itself.  This  aim  was  good;  the  method,  however, 
that  the  Karaites  used  in  furthering  their  aim  was,  as  we 
have  seen,  hopelessly  wrong.  They  should  have  devoted 
serious  and  reverent  attention  to  those  very  traditions  that 
they  so  ruthlessly  discarded.  Had  Anan  been  a  man  of 
any  philosophical  insight  into  history,  he  would  have  realized 
that  no  religion  can  break  with  its  past ;  that  institutions 
sanctioned  by  the  wisdom  of  generation  after  generation, 
customs  endeared  to  the  people  by  long  and  hallowed  asso- 
ciation, can  not  be  lightly  ignored.  He  would  have  realized 
that  in  ignoring  the  Talmud  he  was  casting  aside  a  truly 
progressive  authority,  a  living  force  capable  of  growth  and 
of  adaptation  to  changing  requirements,  and  substituting  for 
it  a  method  that  was  fixed,  rigid,  and  unprogressive.  Thus 
it  was  that  Karaism,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  principle 
upon  which  it  was  based  was  reasonable,  performed  no 
great  constructive  work  for  Judaism. 


60  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Indirectly,  however,  Karaism  had  a  good  effect  upon 
Jewish  thought  and  Jewish  literature.  To  strengthen  their 
its  Service  position  against  the  Rabbinites,  the  Karaites 
to  Methods  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  very  close  and 
careful  examination  of  the  text  of  the  Bible. 
With  this  accurate  study  of  the  text  went  necessarily  a 
new  inquiry  into  the  laws  of  Hebrew  grammar.  The 
Karaites  accordingly  compiled  Hebrew  grammars  and  wrote 
new  commentaries  on  the  Bible.  The  Rabbinites,  in  their 
turn,  were  aroused,  and  answered  the  Karaite  attacks  upon 
their  methods;  and  in  order  to  meet  their  opponents  on 
their  own  ground  they  were  compelled  to  justify  their 
Talmudic  laws  by  tracing  them  anew  to  the  fundamental 
injunctions  of  the  Pentateuch.  This  led  the  Rabbinites  to 
an  invigorating  and  inspiring  study  of  the  direct  and  simple 
laws  of  the  Bible.  And  this  renewed  Bible  study  demanded 
of  Rabbinite  as  well  as  of  Karaite  an  accurate  knowledge 
of  Hebrew  grammar.  Thus  there  grew  up  a  new  method 
of  dealing  with  the  holy  text,  a  more  scientific  method  than 
that  which  the  earlier  commentators  had  followed. 

The  Karaite  sect  itself — although  it  had  aroused  Judaism, 
although  it  had  directed  the  attention  of  the  scholars  to  the 
Bible  and  had  prevented  the  study  of  the  Tal- 
muc*  from  becoming  separated  from  its  source, 
the  Bible — was  never  of  great  importance.  It 
still  exists  in  the  East,  in  obscure  places  in  southern  Russia, 
in  Turkey,  and  in  Egypt.  The  fact  that  the  Karaites  refuse 
intercourse  with  other  Jews  has,  oddly  enough,  been  the 
means  whereby  they  have  often  escaped  the  cruel  persecu- 
tion that  has  been  the  lot  of  the  Jew  in  Russia. 


A  nan  ben  David  61 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Graetz:    Geschichte,  Vol.  V,  Chapter  7. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  Ill,  Chapter  5. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia :     Vol.  I,  p.  553,  Article  Anan  b.  David. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia:    Vol.  VII,  p.  438,  Article  Karaites  and  Karaism. 

Schindler,  S. :     Dissolving  Views,  pp.  79-92. 

Steinschneider,  M.:    Jew.  Lit.,  pp.  115-122. 


VII. 
SAADIA. 

The  attacks  of  the  Karaites  were  directed  chiefly  against 
the  schools  in  Babylon.  In  these  schools,  the  Gaonim  at 
The  first  thought  that  their  best  policy  was  to  ignore 

intellectual      the    new    sect.      As    time    went    on,    however, 

Awakening  ,  111  •  <  ••  e     \        tr         • 

of  the  alarmed  by  the  continued  activity  of  the  Karaites 

Schools.  an(j  aroused  by  their  attacks,  the  scholars  came 
to  a  tardy  realization  of  the  necessity  of  answering  this 
harsh  criticism  if  they  wished  to  retain  their  own  authority 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people.  The  Gaonim  at  this  time,  unfortu- 
nately, were  not  in  touch  with  the  thought  of  the  day,  and 
accordingly  they  were  incapable  of  refuting  their  Karaite 
opponents.  The  attack  on  traditional  Judaism  therefore 
became  more  and  more  daring,  and  the  new  sect  won  an 
ever  increasing  number  of  converts.  At  the  end  of  the 
ninth  century,  however,  there  came  a  change.  The  schools 
by  this  time  had  broadened  their  outlook  and  had  included 
among  their  subjects  of  study,  not  only  the  Bible,  but  also 
Hebrew  grammar  and  even  natural  science.  This  intel- 
lectual awakening  now  produced  great  scholars,  among  whom 
the  most  famous  was  Saadia. 

Like  Philo,  Saadia  was  born  in  Egypt,  where  there  were 
also  Jewish  seats  of  learning.  Because  of  his  broad  culture, 
his  keen  intellect,  and  his  vigorous  stand  against  Karaism, 
he  attracted  notice  so  widespread  that  Babylon  learned  of 

62 


Saadia  63 

him,  and  he  was  summoned  to  become  Gaon  of  the  school 
A  Defender  at  Sura.  ^  was  principally  as  defender  of  rab- 
of  Rabbinical  binical  Judaism  that  he  was  called  to  the  leadership 
of  the  school,  and  of  all  his  writings  it  was  his 
answers  to  the  Karaites  that  exercised  the  greatest  imme- 
diate influence.  Saadia  stood  firmly  for  the  Talmudic  view 
that,  besides  the  Bible,  tradition  is  necessary  for  a  proper 
understanding  and  development  of  Judaism.  To  the  defense 
of  this  view  he  brought  his  broad  culture — his  thorough 
training,  not  only  in  departments  of  Jewish  learning,  but 
also  in  philosophical  lore — and  his  untiring  literary  activity. 
He  was  thus  able  to  defeat  the  Karaites  on  their  own 
ground. 

Although  Saadia  was  vigorously  opposed  to  Karaism,  he 
shared  the  Karaites'  enthusiasm  for  the  accurate  study  of 
Translation  tne  Bible  and  of  the  Hebrew  language,  and  he 
of  the  Bible  gained  supremacy  for  rabbinical  Judaism  in  these 
very  fields  of  learning  which  the  Karaites  had 
come  to  regard  as  their  own  special  province.  The  Bible 
was  the  principal  object  of  Saadia's  unwearied  mental  ac- 
tivity. He  saw  with  grief  that  the  holy  Book  was  not 
accessible  to  the  majority  of  the  people:  for  to  the  Jews  of 
the  East,  Hebrew  was  no  longer  a  familiar  tongue;  Arabic, 
the  speech  of  the  land,  had  become  their  only  means  of 
communication.  To  meet  this  difficulty,  Saadia  translated 
the  Bible  into  Arabic,  thereby  performing  a  service  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  Judaism,  and  not  without  influence 
outside  Jewish  circles.  Saadia's  Arabic  translation  gave 
Mohammedan  as  well  as  Jew  an  opportunity  to  become 
familiar  with  the  Scriptures,  and  he  thus  brought  the  mes- 
sage of  the  Hebrew  prophets  to  the  Moslem  world,  as  the 
Septuagint  had  earlier  brought  it  to  the  Greek. 

To  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  Saadia  added  a  com- 
mentary in  Arabic.  In  addition  to  writing  notes  on  indi- 
vidual passages  that  needed  explanation,  he  commented 


64  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

clearly  and  rationally  on   each  book  as   a  whole.     In  this 
A  Rational     wav  ^e  n°Ped  to  remove  all  the  misconceptions 
Commentary    that  had  obscured  the  message  of  the  Scriptures, 
ble'    and  to  make  its  meaning  intelligible  to  every  one. 
At  the  same  time  that   Saadia  wrote  his  translation   of 
the  Bible,  he  also  composed  a  Hebrew  grammar  and  a  He- 
A  Hebrew       brew    dictionary.      These    works    are    important 
Grammar         because  they   introduced  grammar  and  philology 
Hebrew  as  definite  departments  of  rabbinical  scholarship, 

Dictionary.  and  thus  established  a  new  method  of  Bible 
study,  characterized  by  an  accurate  investigation  of  the  text 
of  the  Bible  and  a  scientific  knowledge  of  its  language, — a 
method  that  was  to  produce  a  long  series  of  brilliant  works 
in  the  era  that  was  just  opening. 

Saadia's  learning  was  many-sided:  it  included  not  only 
all  branches  of  Jewish  knowledge,  but  also  the  Arabian  cul- 
ture of  his  time.  In  breadth  of  culture  he 
Knowledge"  exce^e(l  a^  n^s  Jewish  contemporaries ;  yet  he 
was  not  alone  in  responding  to  the  influence  of 
the  intellectual  Arabs.  Inspired  by  them,  many  Jews  were 
rapidly  mastering  the  sciences  and  the  Arabic  version  of 
Greek  philosophy.  Saadia  saw  with  deep  concern,  however, 
that  the  result  of  these  studies  was  sometimes  unsettling — 
that  many  became  perplexed  by  the  new  knowledge  and 
began  to  waver  in  their  allegiance  to  the  old  faith.  For 
these  doubters  in  Israel  Saadia  wrote  his  "Emunot  ve- 
Deot",  "Faith  and  Knowledge",  in  which  he  defended  Juda- 
ism by  attempting  to  prove  that  the  fundamental  truths  of 
Bible  and  Talmud  are  not  at  variance  with  the  moral  laws 
reasoned  out  by  the  great  philosophers,  but  are,  on  the  con- 
trary, in  perfect  harmony  with  them.  In  writing  this  book, 
he  had  in  mind,  too,  a  second  class  of  readers.  He  wished 
to  reach  those  conservative  adherents  of  the  methods  of  the 
old  schools  who  condemned  all  philosophy  and  science,  all 
inquiry  into  the  great  problems  of  the  universe.  To  con- 


Saadia  65 

vince  these  Jews  that  philosophy  may  work  hand  in  hand 
with  faith,  that  an  independent  search  for  knowledge  should 
confirm,  not  weaken,  religion,  Saadia  placed  before  them 
a  survey  of  what  the  philosophy  of  his  day  had  to  say  upon 
those  themes  that  occupy  the  mind  of  man  throughout  all 
ages, — upon  God,  creation,  the  soul,  death,  resurrection,  the 
Messiah. 

Beginning  with   this   work   of    Saadia's,   Jewish   thinkers 
were  now  to  produce  a  series  of  philosophical  works  repre- 
senting every  school  of  thought  in  the  light  of 
Philosophers    Jewisn    belief.      In    this,    Saadia    was    very    like 
Philo,  who,  so  many  years  before,  in  Greek  Alex- 
andria, had  endeavored  to  harmonize  the  differences  between 
Greek  philosophy  and  Jewish  belief. 

As  remarkable  as  Saadia's  knowledge  and  literary  power 
was  his  personality.  His  most  striking  traits  were  a  deep 
moral  earnestness  and  an  unswerving  rectitude 
the*  Man.  °^  character.  In  a  law-suit  about  a  large  in- 
heritance, the  Prince  of  the  Exile,  influenced  by 
the  prospect  of  great  gain,  gave  an  unjust  decision.  To 
ratify  this  decision  he  demanded  the  signature  of  the 
Gaonim.  Saadia,  unlike  the  subservient  Gaon  at  Pumbedi- 
tha,  steadfastly  refused  to  countenance  the  injustice.  To 
all  arguments  and  threats  he  calmly  replied,  "Ye  shall  not 
respect  persons  in  judgment".  The  infuriated  Prince 
accordingly  deprived  Saadia  of  his  office  and  forced  him 
into  retirement.  Later,  justice  triumphed,  and  Saadia  was 
restored  to  office.  By  his  conduct  towards  the  family  of 
his  old  enemy  he  now  showed  that  he  could  be  merciful 
as  well  as  just.  Through  his  influence,  the  son  of  his 
oppressor  succeeded  his  father  as  Prince,  and  later  still 
Saadia  received  into  his  own  home  the  grandson,  to 
whom  he  gave  an  education  that  should  fit  him  to  fill 
with  dignity  the  position  that  his  father  and  his  grand- 
father had  held  before  him.  Unfortunately,  Moslem  feel- 


66  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

ing  against  the  appearance  of  princely  power  among  the 
Jews  brought  about  the  assassination  of  the  young  prince, 
and  with  the  death  of  this  last  Head  of  the  Exile,  the 
position  that  for  seven  centuries  had  been  one  of  power 
and  pomp  came  to  an  end. 

In  fact,  the  East  was  soon  to  lose  its  hold  on  the  Jews 

of  the  world.     After  Saadia's  death  the  schools  in  Babylon 

steadily  declined.     In  other  lands  the  Jews  were 

The   Close  *  J 

of  the  now    founding    schools    of    their    own,    and    for 


Schools  in       ^hjs   reason  they   sent   no  more  contributions   to 

Babylon.  .         _    ,  _.  _. 

the  colleges  in  Babylon.  Soon  the  Eastern 
schools  were  compelled  to  close,  and  the  scholars  scat- 
tered. Asia  had  ceased  to  be  the  center  of  Jewish  culture. 
Saadia  was  thus  the  last  Gaon  to  bring  honor  and 
glory  to  these  ancient  institutions  of  learning.  His  im- 
The  portance  in  history  is  due  to  his  establishment 

dMsST  °f  a  rational  metnod  of  Bible  interpretation, 
in  Jewish  his  pioneer  work  in  the  scientific  study  of  the 
HUtory.  sacred  text,  and  his  application  of  the  phil- 
osophical methods  of  the  Arabs  to  Jewish  religious 
thought,  thereby  bringing  to  bear  upon  the  Jewish  mind 
the  influence  of  Mohammedan  culture  —  an  influence  that 
was  to  be  far  more  important  and  lasting  than  the  influ- 
ence that  Greek  civilization  had  gained  through  the  writ- 
ings of  Philo,  the  Alexandrian  philosopher. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Friedlander,  M.  :     Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  V,  pp.  177-199. 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  4th  Edition,  Vol.  V,  Chapter  X. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  187-202. 

Husik,  I.  :     History  of  Mediaeval  Jewish  Philosophy,  pp.  23-47. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia  :     Vol.  X,  p.  579,  Article  Saadia  b.  Joseph. 

Rosenau,  W.  :     Jewish  Biblical  Commentators,  pp.  33-49. 

Schindler,  S.  :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  93-108. 

Simon,  L.:     Aspects  of  the  Hebrew  Genius,  pp.  25-56. 


VIII. 

CHASDAI  IBN  SHAPRUT. 

An  old  legend  has  it  that  the  people  of  Sura,  grieved 
to  see  their  ancient  school  closed,  sent  out  four  of  their 

greatest  scholars  to  visit  the  large  Jewish  corn- 
New  Center  munities  of  the  world  and  reawaken  interest 
of  Jewish  jn  the  famous  old  college,  so  that  contributions 

should  flow  in  and  their  school  be  reopened. 
According  to  the  story,  these  scholars  had  an  adventure- 
some voyage.  They  fell  in  with  pirates,  were  captured 
and  carried  to  the  slave  markets  of  the  ports  at  which 
the  pirate  vessel  touched.  Now  in  those  days,  when 
pirates  infested  the  seas  and  made  traveling  hazardous, 
charitable  Jews  counted  it  among  their  duties  to  redeem 
from  slavery  such  of  their  brethren  as  were  unfortunate 
enough  to  be  captured.  The  Babylonian  rabbis  were 
therefore  bought  by  their  co-religionists  and  set  at  lib- 
erty. Two  thus  found  themselves  in  Africa,  where  they 
were  able  to  repay  the  generosity  of  their  liberators  by 
founding  new  schools,  one  in  Cairo,  Egypt;  the  other  in  a 
Jewish  settlement  in  Tunis.  A  third  probably  reached 
France  and  carried  Jewish  learning  there.  The  fourth, 
Moses  ben  Enoch,  was  brought  with  his  young  son  to 
Cordova,  Spain.  Ransomed  by  the  Jews  of  Cordova,  the 
rabbi,  in  his  slave's  garb  still,  soon  found  his  way  to 
the  Jewish  college.  There  he  took  a  humble  place  near 

67 


68  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

the  door  and  listened  unnoticed  to  the  discussions  of  the 
scholars.  He  had  not  been  there  long  when  a  question 
came  up — so  the  story  goes — that  the  president  of  the 
college  could  not  answer.  Moses  ben  Enoch  modestly 
solved  the  problem,  showing  so  much  learning  that  the 
president  impulsively  declared,  "I  can  no  longer  be  your 
master.  This  stranger  must  take  my  place."  Moses  thus 
became  the  head  of  the  school  in  Cordova,  and  under  his 
leadership  the  Spanish  college  soon  became  as  famous  as 
the  older  academies  in  Sura  and  Pumbeditha  had  been 
in  their  day.  This  picturesque  old  story  has  no  historical 
foundation,  but  it  expresses  vividly  the  important  fact 
that  from  Babylonia  the  center  of  Jewish  influence  moved 
westward  to  Spain.  The  questions  that  had  hitherto  been 
sent  to  Babylon  were  now  sent  to  Spain.  From  all  the 
neighboring  countries  students  flocked  to  Cordova.  As  it 
was  no  longer  necessary  to  go  to  Babylonia  for  counsel  and 
training,  the  schools  there  were  not  reopened.  Spain  took 
the  place  of  Babylonia  as  the  center  of  Jewish  learning. 
Here,  long  before  the  time  of  Moses  ben  Enoch,  Jews 
had  been  living.  While  the  country  was  still  pagan,  they 
were  happy,  respected  by  their  neighbors,  hold- 
History  of  ing  positions  of  honor  and  trust,  free  to  worship 
the  jews  in  QO(J  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  religion. 

opci  in. 

When,  however,  in  the  sixth  century,  Spain  be- 
came a  Christian  nation,  the  Jews  began  to  be  cruelly  per- 
secuted because  of  their  faith.  Church  councils  devised 
ever  new  and  heavier  oppressions.  Jews  were  mulcted  in 
fines,  restricted  in  their  occupations,  deprived  of  their  rights 
as  citizens  and  treated  as  aliens  and  outcasts.  Under  bigoted 
kings  and  bishops  they  were  tortured  and  forced  into  exile. 
Because  of  all  this,  the  victorious  Mohammedans  who  swept 
through  Spain  at  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  and 
broke  the  power  of  the  Christians,  were  hailed  by  the  Jews 
as  deliverers.  The  Jews  fought  shoulder  to  shoulder  with 


Chasdai  ibn  She-prut  69 

the  invaders,  who  welcomed  them  as  valuable  allies  and 
granted  them  absolute  equality  before  the  law  and  perfect 
freedom  of  worship.  Once  again  on  the  Spanish  peninsula 
Jews  might  work  unmolested,  without  unjust  restrictions, 
following  any  occupation,  holding  any  office.  Once  more 
they  could  serve  the  country  that  they  had  come  to  love, 
fighting  for  her  loyally  on  the  field  of  battle,  joining  wisely 
in  her  councils  at  court.  Soon  there  arose  on  Spanish  soil 
thriving  Jewish  communities  in  the  great  cities  of  Granada, 
Cordova,  Toledo.  Here  Jews  worked  with  Moors  to  ad- 
vance the  well-being  of  the  beautiful  land  of  sunny  skies 
and  fragrant  orange  groves  that  was  now  their  home  in 
common.  These  were  the  conditions,  then,  that  Moses  ben 
Enoch  found  when  he  wandered  through  the  stately  streets 
of  Cordova.  And  thus  it  was  that,  when  Babylon  ceased 
to  be  the  home  of  Jewish  learning,  Spain  was  ready  to  take 
its  place. 

It  was  not  only  as  soldiers  and  statesmen,  as  merchants 

and  as    farmers,  that   Arabs   and   Jews   toiled   in   harmony. 

The   Mohammedans   were   an   intellectual   people. 

The  Debt  of 

Civilization  At  a  time  when,  in  Christian  countries,  only 
!j>  ^f  priests  and  princes  could  read  and  write,  in 

Spanish  Jews.    ,,..-,.  ,. 

Moorish  Spam  these  accomplishments  were  usual 
even  among  the  poorest.  The  Moorish  rulers — the  caliphs, 
as  they  were  called — held  scholars  and  poets  in  highest  esteem, 
often  trusting  to  them  the  most  important  offices  of  the  state. 
The  Mohammedans  were  interested  in  the  sciences  and  phil- 
osophy. They  loved  literature.  In  all  these  intellectual 
activities  they  found  comrades  in  the  Jews.  They,  too, 
became  eager  scientists  and  men  of  letters.  Civilization 
owes  them  both  a  great  debt.  Through  them  the  poetry  of 
the  ancient  East,  of  India,  of  Persia,  became  known  to 
Europe.  Without  their  devoted  labors  many  sciences  would 
have  been  forgotten  during  the  ages  when  the  church  looked 
with  suspicion  upon  secular  learning.  They  did  pioneer 


70  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

work  in  astronomy  and  geometry.  They  were  the  teachers 
of  medicine  in  the  great  universities  of  Europe.  They  trans- 
lated the  philosophy  of  the  Greeks  into  Arabic  and  Latin, 
and  thus  exercised  a  profound  influence  on  mediaeval 
thought. 

But  although  the  Spanish  Jews  loved  the  language  and 
the  literature  of  their  adopted  country,  and  acquired  eagerly 
students  of  *ts  science  an<l  its  philosophy,  all  this  bold  in- 
Jewish  quiry  into  new  fields  of  learning  did  not  make 
Learning.  them  waver  in  their  devotion  to  the  faith  of  their 
fathers.  It  seemed  rather  to  increase  and  deepen  their  love 
for  their  own  ancient  language  and  its  sacred  literature,  and 
to  strengthen  their  devotion  to  the  Law.  Statesmen  and 
poets  alike,  scientists  and  philosophers — all  were  ardent  stu- 
dents of  Bible  and  Talmud. 

Prominent    among  those    who    helped    make    Cordova    a 

second  Sura  was  Chasdai  ben  Isaac  ibn  Shaprut  (915-970). 

He  was  the  first  of  a  long  line  of  Jewish  states- 

Chasdai  ibn  , J    .  ,      .     . 

Shaprut:  men  who,  in  spite  of  the  varied  duties  of  their 
Learnt  "*  actiye  lives,  devoted  their  best  energies  to  the 
cause  of  Judaism.  Chasdai  was  a  man  of  wide 
culture  and  many  accomplishments.  In  addition  to  Hebrew 
he  knew  Arabic  and  also  Latin.  It  was  his  knowledge  of 
Latin  that  made  him  particularly  valuable  to  the  caliph,  for 
it  enabled  him  to  communicate  with  the  ambassadors  from 
Christian  lands.  In  fact,  so  important  did  his  services  be- 
come, that  he  was  practically  vizier  at  court,  in  full  charge 
of  foreign  affairs  as  well  as  of  trade  and  finance.  His 
prominence  in  the  state,  his  wealth  and  power,  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  render  equally  valuable  service  to  the 
Jewish  community.  In  the  first  place,  the  sterling  character 
of  this  eminent  Jew  inspired  among  the  Moslems  whom  he 
served  so  faithfully  a  favorable  opinion  of  the  race  to 
which  he  belonged,  and  lessened  that  distrust  of  the  alien, 
that  racial  prejudice,  from  which  not  even  the  enlightened 


Chasdai  ibn  Shaprut  71 

Moslem  was  free.  Moreover,  Chasdai  was  actively  useful 
to  his  brethren.  In  some  measure  he  was  the  legal  head  of 
their  community  in  Cordova.  It  was  his  generosity  that 
supported  many  of  the  students  who  were  pursuing  their 
studies  at  the  college  there.  It  was  he  who  sent  to  Babylon  to 
buy  at  his  own  expense  for  the  use  of  the  Spanish  scholars 
the  copies  of  the  Talmud  that  were  lying  idle  in  Sura. 

Chasdai's  correspondence  gave  him  knowledge  of  an  his- 
torical event,  which,  although  it  had  but  little  influence  on 
the  course  of  Jewish  history,  roused  the  spirits  of  the  scat- 
tered race  and  inspired  it  with  new  courage.  Chasdai  had 
heard  rumors  of  the  existence  in  the  far  East  of  a  Jewish 
kingdom.  When  these  rumors  were  confirmed  by  travelers 
who  had  been  to  that  distant  land,  he  could  not  rest  until 
he  had  put  himself  into  communication  with  the  monarch 
of  that  country.  From  this  correspondence  Chasdai  learned 
a  strange  and  interesting  story. 

In  the  south  of  Russia,  on  the  shores  of  the   Caspian 

Sea,  there  lived  a  wild,  warlike  race,  the  Chazars.     Under 

their   warrior   kings    these    Chazars    won    victory 

The  Chazars.  .  .  . 

after  victory,  sweeping  across  Armenia,  conquer- 
ing the  Crimean  peninsula,  and  striking  terror  even  into 
the  hearts  of  the  emperors  at  Constantinople,  who  paid  the 
invading  hordes  a  tribute  to  keep  them  away  from  the 
capital  city.  The  Bulgarians  were  their  vassals,  and  the 
Russians  of  Kiev  paid  them  an  annual  tax. 

These  rough  soldiers  were  pagans.  Gradually,  however, 
they  became  acquainted  with  the  higher  forms  of  religion. 
Tj^i,.  Arabs  and  Greeks,  who  came  to  barter  the 

Conv«r«ion  products  of  their  countries  for  the  fine  furs  of 
nsm'  the  Chazars,  made  them  familiar  with  Islam  and 
Christianity.  There  were  Jews,  too,  in  their  land,  fugitives 
who  had  escaped  from  the  persecution  of  other  countries. 
Through  these  the  Chazars  came  to  know  Judaism.  And  in 
the  eighth  century,  Bulan,  king  of  the  Chazars,  with  his 


72  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

court  and  the  greater  part  of  his  people,  became  a  willing 
convert  to  the  Jewish  religion.  It  was  the  Chazar  king  of 
Chasdai  ibn  Shaprut's  time  with  whom  the  Spanish-Jewish 
statesman  corresponded  and  from  whom  he  received  the 
story  of  the  conversion.  King  Bulan — so  this  story  goes — was 
dissatisfied  with  the  idolatry  of  his  people  and  the  immorality 
that  it  permitted.  He  was  encouraged  in  his  desire  for  something 
better  and  nobler  by  a  dream  in  which  an  angel  appeared  to 
him  and  said:  "Thine  intention  is  good,  but  not  the  man- 
ner in  which  thou  servest  God."  The  king  thereupon  sum- 
moned before  him  representative  followers  of  Christianity, 
Mohammedanism,  and  Judaism.  The  Jew  succeeded  in  con- 
vincing the  king  of  the  truth  of  his  religion.  Bulan  became 
an  ardent  convert,  and  commenced  a  Jewish  dynasty  that 
endured  for  more  than  two  centuries. 

Another  generous  patron  of  Jewish  learning  was  Samuel 
ibn  Nagdela  (993-1055).  Through  his  unusual  skill  in 
Samuel  ibn  languages  and  his  insight  into  affairs  of  state, 
Nagdela.  fa  became,  like  Chasdai,  minister  to  a  caliph, 
and  under  his  wise  guidance  the  kingdom  of  Granada  flour- 
ished. Like  Chasdai,  too,  he  was  the  head  of  the  Jewish 
community,  and  in  this  capacity  he  received  the  title  of 
Nagid,  or  Prince.  He,  too,  found  time  among  affairs  of 
state  for  rabbinical  learning.  Like  Moses  ben  Enoch,  at 
whose  school  he  studied,  he  was  a  thorough  Talmudist. 
He  delivered  lectures  on  the  Talmud  and  compiled  a  Tal- 
mud commentary  that  was  recognized  as  the  standard  au- 
thority. He  was  poet,  too,  as  well  as  minister  of  state  and 
rabbi.  He  wrote  prayers  that  had  the  religious  fervor  of 
the  Biblical  psalms;  proverbs  that  in  their  keen  observation 
of  men  and  affairs,  were  in  the  manner  of  the  Book  of 
Proverbs;  and  a  book  of  philosophy  for  which  he  had  as 
model  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes.  Under  his  protection 
Spanish-Jewish  culture  throve. 


Chasdai  ibn  Shaprut  73 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  V,  p.  339  ff,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  IS  ff. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  VoL  III,  pp.  215-230. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.    VI,   p.    248,    Article    Hasdai   abu    Yusef 

ibn  Shaprut. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia :     Vol.  XI,  p.  484,  Article  Spain. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.    II,    p.    Iff,    Article    Chazars. 
Lea,  H.  C. :     History  of  the  Inquisition  of  Spain,  VoL  1,  Ch.  2. 


IX. 
SOLOMON  IBN  GABIROL. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  the  philosophers  and  poets  of 
this  golden  age  was  Solomon  ibn  Gabirol,  born  in  Moorish 
Spain  about  1020.  Of  his  life  little  is  known. 
From  his  poems  we  learn  that  he  was  early  left 
an  orphan.  His  loss  and  his  consequent  loneliness  were 
probably  the  cause  of  the  intense  melancholy  that  charac- 
terizes his  poems.  Later,  too,  a  kindly  Jewish  vizier  who 
had  befriended  him  was  assassinated,  and  this  new  sorrow 
cast  another  shadow  over  the  young  poet's  life.  Friends 
tried  to  drive  away  his  gloom — among  them  Samuel  ibn 
Nagdela,  that  patron  of  poets  and  scholars — but  our  poet 
could  find  no  joy  in  human  intercourse.  It  was  only  in 
loving  communion  with  the  merciful  Father  that  he  could 
pour  out  his  desolation  and  be  comforted. 

"The  Fountain  of  Life"  was  Ibn  Gabirol's  contribution 
to  the  Jewish  philosophical  literature.  He  is  not  only  the 
"The  ^rst  Jewisn  philosopher  in  Spain,  but  the  very 

Fountain  first  philosopher  who  lived  and  wrote  on  Span- 
ish soil.  In  the  form  of  a  conversation  between 
a  master  and  one  of  his  disciples,  his  work  sets  forth  the 
philosophy  of  the  Greek  thinkers  who  preceded  Aris- 
totle. But  although  Philo  and  Saadia  had  adapted  Greek 
and  Arabic  philosophy  to  the  teachings  of  Judaism  and  had 
attempted  to  harmonize  the  two  modes  of  thought,  Ibn 
Gabirol's  "Fountain  of  Life"  shows  little  unmistakable  Jew- 

74 


Solomon  ibn  Gabirol  75 

ish  feeling.  For  this  reason  the  book  exercised  compara- 
tively little  influence  on  Jewish  practical  life,  although  in 
the  realm  of  Jewish  thought  it  took  its  place  among  the 
influences  that  make  for  the  cultivation  of  science,  for  the 
broadening  of  the  mental  outlook,  and,  above  all,  for  the 
recognition  of  the  need  of  harmonizing  Jewish  tradition 
with  the  culture  of  the  age.  Ibn  Gabirol's  book  had  a 
strange  history.  It  had  as  important  an  influence  on  medi- 
aeval Christianity  as  Philo's  writings  had  had  on  early 
Christianity.  It  was  translated  into  Latin,  and  as  "Fons 
Vitae"  was  diligently  studied  by  Christian  scholars.  The 
name  of  the  Jewish  writer,  in  process  of  translation  from 
Arabic  to  Latin,  came  gradually  to  be  changed  out  of  all 
resemblance  to  Ibn  Gabirol.  It  went  from  Ibn  Gabirol  to 
Avencebrol,  then  to  Avicembron,  and  it  was  as  Avicebron 
that  the  author  was  known  to  the  Christians  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  the  "Fons  Vitae"  was  not  suspected  of  being  a 
Jewish  production.  It  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  that  Solomon  Munk,  a  Jewish  scholar  in 
France,  proved  the  identity  of  the  author  who  first  taught 
the  philosophy  of  Plato  to  Europe  with  the  Jewish  poet, 
Solomon  ibn  Gabirol. 

It  is  rather  as  a  poet  than  as  a  philosopher  that  Ibn 
Gabirol  is  best  loved  by  his  fellow-Jews.  His  religious 
poems  are  written  in  Hebrew  that  has  the 
classical  simplicity  and  beauty  of  the  Bible,  and 
yet  they  introduce  into  the  Hebrew  verse  the  rhythm  of 
Arabic  poetry.  They  breathe  a  profound  trust  in  God  that 
has  won  many  of  them  a  place  in  the  prayer-book  of  the 
Spanish  Jews.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  them  is  "The 
Kingly  Crown",  a  hymn  in  praise  of  the  splendor  of  God's 
creation  and  His  wisdom  in  ruling  the  world.  His  poems 
have  been  translated  into  many  languages.  The  following 
English  versions  can  give  you  an  idea  of  their  message,  but 
only  a  faint  conception  of  their  beauty  in  the  original.  With 


76  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

the  first  you  are  probably  already   familiar,   for  it  is  sung 
to-day  in  synagogue  and  in  religious  school. 

CONSTANT    PRAISE.1 

Early  will  I   seek  Thee, 

God,   my   refuge   strong; 
Late   prepare   to   meet  Thee 

With   my   evening  song. 

Though   unto   Thy  greatness 

I   with   trembling  soar, 
Yet  my  inmost  thinking 

Lies    Thine    eyes   before. 

What   this   frail  heart   dreameth 

And  my  tongue's  poor  speech- 
Can  that,  even  distant, 

To  Thy  greatness  reach? 

Being  great  in  mercy, 

Thou  wilt  not  despise 
Praises  which  till  death's  hour 

From   my   soul   shall   rise. 

A    SONG    OF    REDEMPTION.2 
Captive  of  sorrow  on  a  foreign   shore, 

A  handmaid  as  'neath  Egypt's  slavery: 
Through  the  dark  day  of  her  bereavement  sore 

She   looketh   unto   Thee. 
Restore   her  sons,   O   Mighty   One   of  old! 

Her   remnant   tenth    shall    cause    man's    strife    to    cease. 
O   speed  the   message;   swiftly  be   she   told 

Good  tidings,  which  Elijah  shall  unfold: 
Daughter  of  Zion,  sing  aloud!  behold 
Thy  Prince  of  Peace! 

Wherefore   wilt  Thou   forget  us,   Lord,   for  aye? 
Mercy   we    crave! 

0  Lord,  we  hope   in  Thee   alway, 

Our   King  will   save! 

1  Translation   by   Gustav    Gottheil. 
"Translation   by   Nina   Davis. 


Solomon  ibn  Gabirol  77 

Is  this  Thy  voice? 
The   voice  of   captive   Ariel's   woe   unhealed? 

Virgin    of    Israel,   arise,    rejoice! 
In  Daniel's  vision,  lo.  the   end  is  sealed. 

When   Michael  in  the  height 

Shall  stand  aloft  in  strength, 

And   shout   aloud    in   might, 
And  a  Redeemer  come  to  Zion  at  length. 
Amen,  amen,  behold 

The   Lord's   decree   foretold, 
E'en  as  Thou  hast  our  souls  afflicted  sore. 
So  wilt  Thou  make  us  glad  forevermore! 

O    SOUL   WITH    STORMS    BESET.i 

O  soul,  with  storms  beset, 

Thy  griefs  and  cares  forget! 

Why  dread  earth's  transient  woe, 
When   soon  thy  body  in  the   grave  unseen 

Shall   be    laid    low, 
And  all  will  be  forgotten  then,  as  though 

It  had  not  been? 


Life  is  a  vine,  whose  crown 

The  reaper  Death  cuts   down. 

His   ever-watchful  eyes 
Mark  every  step,  until  night's  shadows  fall, 

And   swiftly  flies 
The  passing  day,  and  ah!  how  distant  lies 

The   goal  of  all. 

Therefore,  rebellious  soul, 

Thy  base   desires   control; 

With    scantly    given    bread 

Content  thyself,  nor  let  thy  memory  stray 

To   splendors   fled, 
But  call  to  mind  affliction's  weight,  and  dread 

The    judgment    day. 

Prostrate  and  humbled  go, 
Like  to  the  dove  laid  low. 
Remember  evermore 

'Translation    by    Alice    Lucas. 


78  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

The  peace  of  heaven,  the  Lord's  eternal  rest. 

When   burdened   sore 
With   sorrow's  load,  at  every  step  implore 

His   succor  bless'd. 

Before    God's   mercy-seat 

His  pardoning  love   entreat. 

Make  pure  thy  thoughts  from  sin, 
And  bring  a  contrite  heart  as  sacrifice 

His   grace   to   win — 
Then  will  His  angels  come  and  lead  thee  in 

To   Paradise. 

Ibn  Gabirol  was  teacher  of  morals  as  well  as  philosopher 
and  poet.     His  "Improvement  of  the  Moral  Qualities"  is  a 

treatise  on  ethics,  in  which  he  attempts  to  guide 
S8Eth?casUse  his  readers  to  the  betterment  of  their  characters 

by  showing  them  how  to  hold  their  lower  im- 
pulses under  the  control  of  their  higher  nature.  He  is  also 
thought  to  be  the  author  of  "The  Choice  of  Pearls",  a  col- 
lection of  proverbs  and  moral  reflections,  many  of  them 
of  Arabic  origin. 

Ibn    Gabirol    died   in    1070.      A   legend    relates    that    an 
Arabian   poet,   jealous   of  the   Jew's   power   of    song,    slew 

him  and  buried  his  body  beneath  the  roots  of  a 

His  Death.         _  . 

fig  tree.  The  tree  thereupon  bore  blossoms  of 
such  surpassing  beauty,  and  fruit  so  unusually  abundant 
and  so  extraordinarily  sweet,  that  the  whole  city  talked  of 
the  marvel.  Even  the  caliph  heard  of  it.  The  Moor  was 
asked  how  he  had  raised  his  wonderful  fruit;  whereupon 
he  showed  so  marked  an  embarrassment  that  a  search  was 
instituted.  People  dug  under  the  tree  and  found  the  body 
of  the  murdered  poet,  and  his  slayer  expiated  his  crime 
with  his  life.  Heinrich  Heine  tells  the  story  in  the  follow- 
ing stanzas:1 

Great   Gabirol,   true   and   loyal, 
God-devoted    minnesinger, 

1  Translation   by   Margaret   Armour. 


Solomon  ibn  Gabirol  79 

Pious  nightingale   who   sang  not 
To  a  rose,  but   to   his   God — 

Tender  nightingale   who   sweetly 
Sang    his    love    songs    in    the    dimness, 
In   the    darkness   of   the    Gothic, 
Of   the    mediaeval   night! 

Undismayed,    and    fearing    nothing 
From  the  ugly  shapes  and  spirits, 
From   the   waste    of   death   and    madness 
Which  that  night  so  weirdly  haunted, 

He,   the   nightingale,   thought  only 
Of   his    heavenly   beloved, 
'Twas  to  Him  he  sobbed  his  passion, 
It  was  He  his  song  exalted. 

Now  at   Cordova,   his   city, 
Dwelt  a  Moor,  his  next-door  neighbor, 
Who  wrote  verses   too,  and   envied 
Sore   the  poet  his   renown. 

He   enticed  his  hated  rival 
To   his   house   by   night,  and   slew   him, 
And    behind    the    house,    the    body 
In  a   garden    plot   he   buried. 

But   behold!   From   out   the   ground 
Where   the   body   had   been   hidden 
Sprang  a  fig  tree  forth,  and  blossomed— 
Tree   of  great  and  wondrous  beauty. 

Of  a   curious   length   its   fruit   was, 
And    of    strange    and    spicy    sweetness, 
And  who  ate   thereof  sank  swooning 
In   a   trance   of   dreamy   rapture. 

And  because  of  this  the  people 
Fell    to    talking   and    to    muttering, 
Till  at   last   the   spreading  rumor 
Reached   the   caliph's   high-born    ears. 

Then   this   marvel   among   fig   trees 
By   the    caliph's    self  was   tested, 
Who   appointed    a    commission 
To    investigate    the    matter. 


80  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

They  proceeded  straight  to  business, 
Gave  the  owner  of  the  fig  tree 
Sixty    strokes    upon   his    soles 
With   the   bamboo;   forced   confession; 

To   the   fig  tree  went   and   tore   it 
By   its   roots  from  out  the   ground, 
And    discovered   hid   beneath    it, 
Poor   Gabirol's   murdered   body. 

This  with  pomp  and  state  was  buried 
And  lamented  by  the   brethren, 
And  that  day  the  Moor  was  taken 
And   at   Cordova   was   hanged. 

Another  who  sang  of  God  was  Moses  ibn  Ezra,  member 
of  an  illustrious  Spanish-Jewish  family.  He  was  born  in 

Granada,  about  1070.  A  disappointment  in  love 
ifz""9 lbn  drove  him  from  his  native  city  to  seek  amid 

other  scenes  peace  from  his  pain.  But  that 
peace  he  never  found,  and  his  unhappiness  tinged  with  mel- 
ancholy his  life  and  his  verse. 

With  him,  as  with  Solomon  ibn  Gabirol,  philosophy  and 
poetry  went  hand  in  hand.  He  shows  profound  knowledge 
His  of  the  Greek-Arabic  thinkers,  of  Saadia,  and  of 

Secular  Ibn  Gabirol.     But  he  is  more  the  poet  than  the 

philosopher.  In  "Tarshish"  he  sings  of  wine, 
love,  and  song.  He  paints  in  vivid  phrases  the  beauties  of 
country  life.  He  mournfully  describes  the  pangs  of  love 
and  the  separation  of  lovers.  Lonely  and  friendless  through 
life,  he  reflects  on  unfaithful  friends,  on  the  vicissitudes  of 
fortune,  on  death.  He  bewails  the  loss  of  youth  and  finds 
the  only  consolation  of  age  in  its  freedom  from  passion. 
All  these  varied  subjects  he  cast  into  an  Arabic  verse- form 
in  which  words  are  repeated  in  every  stanza,  but  each  time 
with  a  different  meaning.  And  each  of  the  ten  chapters  of 
the  volume  contains  in  order  the  twenty-two  letters  of  the 
Hebrew  alphabet.  Others  of  his  secular  poems,  gathered 


Solomon  ibn  Gabirol  81 

into  a  "Diwan"  or  collection,  are  mainly  praises  of  men 
whom  the  poet  admired,  and  elegies  on  the  death  of  scholars. 
It  is  in  his  religious  poems,  however,  that  his  real  power 
lies.  Through  them  all  runs  the  note  of  humilty  before 
His  God,  of  consciousness  of  sin  and  longing  for 

Religions        repentance.     Almost  all  of  them  are  hymns   for 

the  Penitential  Days.  Their  aim  is  to  make  man 
realize  the  emptiness  of  life,  the  vanity  of  worldly  glory,  the 
bitter  disillusionment  that  comes  at  last  to  the  seeker  after 
pleasure,  the  inevitableness  of  Divine  judgment.  They  are 
of  remarkable  beauty  in  thought  and  in  expression. 

In  contrast  to  these  great  poets  of  sorrow  is  the  cheerful 
figure  of  a  man  of  action  as  we  have  it  in  a  record  of  his 

travels.  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  a  Spanish  Jew, 
of"rtuieia.  set  out  from  Saragossa  in  1160.  He  probably 

traveled  as  a  merchant,  but  he  took  an  interest 
in  more  than  the  commercial  aspects  of  the  lands  to  which 
his  business  led  him.  He  made  long  stays  everywhere,  giv- 
ing himself  plenty  of  time  to  observe  conditions  and  modes 
of  life,  to  collect  information  and  to  verify  the  accounts 
that  were  given  him.  His  route  to  the  East  took  him  through 
Catalonia,  southern  France,  Italy,  Greece,  the  islands  of  the 
Levant,  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Mesopotamia  to  Bagdad.  In 
that  city  he  gathered  information  concerning  the  countries 
that  lay  still  farther  east  and  north  and  about  the  large 
Jewish  congregations  in  Persia.  His  homeward  voyage  lay 
through  Khuzistan,  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  Yemen  to  Egypt; 
thence  by  way  of  Sicily  back  to  Spain,  after  thirteen  years 
of  travel. 

In  every  place  that  Benjamin  visited  he  took  notes,  and 
on  his  return  to   Spain  these  notes   were  compiled   into   a 

book.  This  book  of  his  shows  his  keen  interest 
••Itinerary."  *n  everything  that  he  saw  and  heard,  and  his 

clear  insight  into  the  conditions  of  the  countries 
through  which  he  traveled.  Nor  was  his  interest  confined 


82  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

to  Jewish  affairs.  His  account  contains  information  con- 
cerning- the  political  history  and  the  development  of  the 
countries  he  visited,  and  the  history  of  commerce  finds  in 
his  "Itinerary"  much  valuable  material.  He  paints  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  cities  of  Barcelona,  Montpelier,  Constantino- 
ple, and  Alexandria  as  centers  of  international  trade.  He 
gives  a  graphic  description  of  the  republics  of  Genoa  and 
Pisa,  in  which  every  house  was  a  fortress.  In  short,  all  he 
wrote  shows  his  acuteness  of  observation  and  his  intelligent 
understanding  of  conditions. 

His  chief  interest,  however,  was  undoubtedly  in  the  Jews 
of  the  countries  through  which  he  traveled.  Of  them  he 
Valuable  has  given  so  many  and  such  important  and  relia- 
Accounts  of  Die  accounts,  that  his  "Itinerary"  is  considered 

the  Jews  of  ....  .  .         .  .  • 

the  Twelfth  a  source  of  first  importance  for  the  history  of 
Century.  fae  jews  jn  the  twelfth  century.  From  him  we 
learn  the  number  of  Jews  in  the  various  cities,  of  their 
varied  occupations, — dyeing  in  Palestine  and  other  countries, 
the  manufacture  of  silk  and  purple  in  Thebes  in  Greece, 
glass  making  in  Antioch  and  Tyre,  for  example.  He  tells 
of  the  Karaites  in  Constantinople,  Ashkelon,  and  Damascus; 
and  he  has  much  to  say  about  the  Jews  of  Bagdad  and  other 
cities  of  the  East.  Although  he  was  not  himself  a  scholar, 
he  had  a  profound  respect  for  scholarship,  and  he  always 
recorded  the  names  of  the  learned  men  of  the  cities  through 
which  he  passed. 

In  all  his  notes  he  gives  evidence  of  sound  judgment  and 
the  ability  to  distinguish  between  fact  and  fiction  with  a 
A  Traveler  good  sense  not  always  shown  in  works  of  travel, 
of  Sound  even  in  those  of  a  later  day  than  Benjamin  of 
Tudela's.  And  he  was  able  to  throw  his  obser- 
vations of  people  and  places  into  an  interesting  narrative, 
plain  and  unadorned,  but  at  the  same  time  clear  and  concise. 


Solomon  ibn  Gabirol  83 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Friedlander,  J.:   The  Standard  Book  of  Jewish  Verse,  pp.  230,  241, 

405-6,  420,  429,  436,  447,  771,   772. 
Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  24-40. 
Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  265-280. 
Husik,  I.:     History  of  Mediaeval  Jewish  Philosophy,  pp.  59-79. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.    VI,   p.   526,   Article   Ibn    Gabirol. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:    VoL  III,  p.  34,  Article  Benjamin  of  Tudela. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VI,  p.  526,  Article  Ibn  Ezra. 
Kaempf:     Nichtandalusische  Poesie,  pp.  167-212. 
Wise,  S.  S.:     The  Improvement  of  the  Moral  Qualities. 


X. 

BACHYA  IBN  PAKUDA. 

Of  the  life  of  Bachya  ben  Joseph  ibn  Pakuda,  all  we 

know  is  that  he  bore  the  title  of  Dayyan,  or  judge  of  a 

rabbinical    court    in    some    Spanish    community, 

Hit  Life.  «        «  •»«•<  11  .... 

apparently  Saragossa.  Modern  scholars  think  it 
probable  that  he  lived  after  Solomon  ibn  Gabirol,  possibly 
in  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth  century,  although  some  think 
him  a  somewhat  younger  contemporary  of  Gabirol,  and  thus 
place  him  as  early  as  the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  century. 
It  is  evident  that  he  was  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  whole 
range  of  philosophical  and  scientific  Arabic  literature, — with 
the  natural  sciences,  mathematics,  astronomy,  philosophy,  and 
metaphysics.  As  Dayyan  he  was  master  also  of  rabbinical 
learning,  and,  like  all  Spanish  Jews  of  his  time,  he  was 
acquainted  with  the  grammatical  and  philosophical  works  of 
the  Jews  and  their  achievements  in  poetry,  he  himself  having 
poetical  qualities  of  no  mean  order. 

In  his  old  age  he  wrote  a  book,  "Guide  to  the  Duties  of 
the  Heart",  to  which  he  brought  all  the  wealth  of  his  learn- 
Hii  Book:  ing,  all  the  beauty  of  his  poetical  style,  all  the 
"Guide  to  warmth  and  piety  of  his  devoted,  loving  heart. 

the   Duties         __  .        .       ,  T  «.    n       • 

of  the  He  wrote  it  in  Arabic,  so  that  the  Jews  of  Spam 

Heart."  who  were  not  scholars  and  could  not  read  He- 
brew should  understand  it.  But  the  Jews  of  Christian 
Europe  could  not  read  Arabic,  and  so  it  was  translated  into 

84 


B  achy  a  ibn  Pakuda  85 

Hebrew  by  Judah  ibn  Tibbon,  one  of  a  famous  family  of 
translators,  in  1161,  and  then  it  became  the  property  of 
Israel  the  world  over.  The  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages  used 
it  as  a  manual  of  devotional  literature.  The  Hebrew  trans- 
lation was  in  turn  translated  into  various  European  lan- 
guages; it  was  commented  on,  expanded,  abridged,  para- 
phrased, imitated.  Large  portions  of  it  found  their  way 
into  the  prayer-books,  as  did  a  penitential  hymn  which 
Bachya  composed. 

This  book,  which  at  once  became  so  popular,  so  truly  a 
book  of  the  people,  is  an  ethical  treatise,  the  first  systematic 
work  on  ethics  written  by  a  Jew.  For  the  first 
^me»  t^ie  "c^  etnical  content  of  Judaism  is  formu- 
lated and  worked  into  a  system.  Nor  does  Bachya 
limit  himself  to  Jewish  sources.  He  draws  largely  from  the 
works  of  Mohammedans  of  various  schools  and  sects,  and 
through  them,  from  Plato  as  they  conceived  him.  But  al- 
though some  writers  call  Bachya  an  original  thinker  of  high 
rank,  and  his  work  a  philosophical  classic,  his  purpose  was 
not  that  of  the  philosopher.  His  object  was  not  to  argue 
about  the  doctrines  of  Judaism  and  defend  them,  as  Saadia 
had  done;  it  was  not  to  examine  critically  the  foundations 
of  his  faith  and  reconcile  it  with  current  philosophy:  it  was 
to  deepen  and  to  make  more  spiritual  the  religious  feeling 
among  the  Jews  of  his  day,  to  spread  among  them  a  loftier 
motive  and  a  more  loving  conception  of  devotion  and  duty. 

He  saw  the  significance  of  the  distinction  made  by  the 

Moslems  between  outward  observance,  known  as 

"duties  of  the  limbs",  and  inward  feeling,  called 

"duties  of  the  heart."    From  this  idea  came  his  inspiring  title. 

The  "Guide  to  the  Duties  of  the  Heart"  is  divided  into 
ten  sections,  which  Bachya  calls  "gates."  In  each  of  them 
he  considers  one  of  the  ten  fundamental  principles,  which, 
according  to  his  view,  constitute  man's  spiritual  life.  As 
the  very  essence  of  spirituality  is  the  recognition  of  God  as 


86  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

the  one  Maker  of  all  things,  Bachya  makes  the  Gate  of 
The  Gate  Divine  Unity  the  first  and  foremost  section.  Tak- 
of  Divine  ing  "Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  the  Lord 
is  One"  as  his  starting-point,  he  emphasizes 
the  fact  that  religion  is  not  so  much  a  matter  of  knowing 
God  through  the  intellect,  as  of  loving  Him  with  the  heart. 
Yet  he  would  not  have  us  accept  the  belief  in  God  without 
thinking,  blindly  following  our  fathers;  on  the  contrary,  he 
urges  comprehensive  knowledge  of  God  as  a  duty.  Like  all 
the  Arabian  philosophers  and  theologians  with  whose  work 
he  was  familiar,  he  argues  from  the  creation  of  the  world 
to  a  Creator.  He  then  proceeds,  following  Saadia,  to  prove 
the  unity  of  God.  The  harmony  of  all  things  in  nature,  the 
wondrous  plan  and  wisdom  displayed  in  the  structure  of  the 
greatest  and  the  smallest  beings,  all  point  to  one  great 
Designer. 

But  how  can  man,  with  his  limited  human  reason,  attain 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  great  God?  Insistence  on  knowing 
the  sun  beyond  what  is  possible  to  the  human 
Reflection0  eve  causes  blindness ;  so  insistence  on  knowing 
Him  who  is  unknowable  bewilders  and  confounds 
the  mind.  We  can,  however,  ponder  on  God  and  His  great- 
ness and  goodness  as  they  are  manifest  in  the  wonders  of 
nature, — the  marvels  of  the  heavens,  the  birds  and  the 
flowers,  the  rain  and  the  sunshine, — and  in  man's  body  and 
in  his  daily  life.  To  this  duty  of  divine  contemplation  is 
devoted  the  second  section,  the  Gate  of  Reflection.  Here 
Bachya  presents  an  interesting  and  beautiful  system  of  nat- 
ural philosophy,  and  goes  from  that  to  a  survey  of  the 
physiology  and  psychology  of  man.  Such  considerations  as 
these  fill  man's  soul  with  gratitude  and  praise  for  the  love 
and  wisdom  of  the  Creator. 

These  feelings  lead  man  to  the  worship  of  God,  the  sub- 
ject of  the  third  section,  the  Gate  of  Divine  Worship.  Wor- 
ship of  God  in  obedience  to  the  commandments  of  the  Law 


Bachya  ibn  Pakuda  87 

is  of  unmistakable  value  inasmuch  as  it  asserts  the  higher 
The  Gate  claims  of  life  against  its  lower  desires  ;  yet  this 
of  Divine  is  not  the  highest  form  of  worship,  as  it  may 
be  prompted  by  fear  of  punishment  or  hope  of 
reward  —  or  it  may  be  altogether  formal  and  without  that 
inward  spiritual  fervor  which  alone  makes  the  soul  invinci- 
ble in  temptation  and  trial.  Still  the  Law  is  necessary  as 
a  guide,  since  there  exist  in  man  two  injurious  tendencies,  — 
one,  to  lead  a  life  of  the  senses  only,  like  the  brute;  the 
other,  to  despise  the  world  of  the  senses  altogether,  and  to 
devote  oneself  only  to  the  life  of  the  spirit.  Between  these 
two  extremes  the  Law  shows  the  correct  "middle  way."  It 
educates  all  the  people,  the  immature  as  well  as  those  of 
mature  intellect,  for  the  service  of  God,  which  is  the  service 
of  the  heart.  And  Bachya  gives  an  exposition  of  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Law  and  the  rabbis,  emphasizing  the  spirituality 
without  which  all  observance  of  ceremony  and  all  study  of 
the  Law  fail  of  their  purpose. 

A  long  dialogue  follows  between  the  Soul  and  the  Intellect 
on  worship,  on  freedom  of  will,  and  on  the  faculties  of 
the  soul,  —  joy  and  grief,  fear  and  hope,  love  and  hatred,  — 
in  all,  ten  pairs  of  contrasting  faculties. 

Trust  in  God   forms  the  title  of  the   fourth  gate.     All 

The  Gate        tnat  tne  wor^  has  to  °^er  w^  disappoint  man 
of  Trust         in  the  end.     He  alone  enjoys   contentment   and 

peace  who  confides  in  God.     Here  Bachya  dwells 
on  the  hope  of  immortality. 

Consecration  of  Action,  sincerity  of  purpose,  is  treated  in 
the  fifth  gate.  No  one  is  more  repulsive  to  the  pious  soul 
Consecration  tnan  tne  hypocrite.  The  sixth  gate  deals  with 
of  Action,  Humility,  humility  towards  man,  but  especially 

towards  God.     The  seventh  is  the  Gate  of  Re- 


pentance.    Even  the  best  of  men  are  not  those 

who  have  kept  free  from  sin,  but  those  who  feel 

regret  at  having  committed  it  and  repent.     Bachya   quotes 


88  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

from  the  rabbis'  sayings  to  the  effect  that  the  sinner  who 
repents  ranks  higher  than  he  who  has  never  sinned,  conclud- 
ing with  the  beautiful  words  of  one  of  the  masters  to  his 
disciples,  "Were  you  altogether  free  from  sin,  I  should  be 
afraid  of  what  is  far  greater  than  sin — that  is,  pride  and 
hypocrisy."  The  next  gate,  the  eighth,  entitled  Self -Exami- 
nation, is  of  the  same  character  as  the  seventh:  it  exhorts 
man  to  take  a  serious  and  lofty  view  of  life. 

The  following  section,  the  Gate  of  Seclusion  from  the 
World,  Bachya  devotes  to  a  problem  which  is  evidently 
The  uppermost  in  his  mind,  the  relation  of  religion  to 

Gate  of          asceticism.     Bachya's  own  religious  feeling  had  a 

Seclusion 

from  the  decided  tendency  to  asceticism,  to  the  suppression 
World.  of  Worldly  desires  and  the  ideal  of  living  in  spir- 

itual seclusion.  Yet  he  says  that  the  highest  seclusion  is  to 
be  found,  not  far  from  the  world's  turmoil  and  strife,  but 
in  the  midst  of  its  pursuits  and  struggles,  in  a  life  of  modera- 
tion, regarding  this  world  as  preparation  for  a  higher  one. 

The  aim  of  all  ethical  self-discipline  is  the  Love  of  God» 
and  this  forms  the  subject  of  the  last  gate.  This  Bachya 
The  Gate  explains  as  the  longing  of  the  soul,  amid  all  the 
of  the  Love  attractions  that  bind  it  to  the  earth,  for  the  foun- 
tain of  its  life,  in  which  alone  it  finds  joy  and 
peace.  In  this  the  soul  reaches  its  goal,  the  highest  of  its 
duties,  the  love  of  God  with  heart,  soul,  and  might. 

All  this  Bachya  wrote  in  a  manner  eloquent  with  depth 
of  feeling,  with  vivid  poetical  imagination,  and  with  great 
its  Lasting  beauty  of  diction.  He  illustrated  his  teachings 
Beauty  and  with  a  wealth  of  sayings  and  parables  drawn 
from  Mohammedan  literature,  as  well  as  with 
frequent  and  apt  quotation  from  the  Scriptures  and  from  the 
works  of  rabbinical  writers.  His  personality  shines  through 
every  line, — a  soul  full  of  the  beauty  of  holiness,  pious,  lov- 
ing, broadly  tolerant.  And  so  it  is  that  while  systems  of 
philosophy  come  and  go,  while  indeed  the  philosophical 


Bachya  ibn  Pakuda  89 

groundwork  which  Bachya  himself  used  was  outgrown  and 
abandoned  centuries  ago,  the  moral  and  ethical  lessons  of 
the  "Guide  to  the  Duties  of  the  Heart"  are  of  lasting  beauty 
and  undiminished  value. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Bachya:     The  Duties  of  the  Heart,  translated  by  E.  Collins. 

Graetz :    Geschichte,  VoL  VI,  p.  40  ff. 

Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  271-3. 

Hertz,  Joseph  H. :    Bachya,  the  Jewish  Thomas  a  Kempis,  in  Jewish 

Theological  Seminary  Proceedings,  Vol.  VI. 
Husik,  I.:     History  of  Mediaeval  Jewish  Philosophy,  pp.  80-105. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  II,  p.  447,  Article  Bahya  ben  Joseph* 


XL 
JUDAH  HALEVI. 

In  the  twelfth  century,  Spain  was  in  a  state  of  almost 
constant  warfare.  The  small  kingdoms  into  which  the  beau- 
Tweifth  tiiul  ^and  was  divided  were  always  warring  against 
Century  one  another, — Christian  against  Christian,  Moor 
against  Moor.  And  from  the  north  the  Christians 
were  making  ever  more  frequent  and  more  vigorous  at- 
tempts to  drive  the  Mohammedans  from  the  peninsula.  In 
these  troubled  times  the  Jews  suffered, — now  forced  into 
the  quarrel  of  caliph  against  caliph,  now  into  the  war  of 
Moor  upon  Christian.  But  even  in  these  unquiet  days,  the 
Spanish  Jew  was  still  better  off  than  his  brethren  in  other 
European  countries.  Merchant-prince  and  statesman,  phil- 
osopher and  poet  still  flourished.  And  it  was  Christian  Spain 
in  the  twelfth  century  that  was  the  home  of  the  greatest 
poet  whom  Judaism  had  inspired  since  the  days  of  the  Bible. 

Judah  Halevi  was  born  in  1086  in  Toledo,  the  capital 
city  of  the  Christian  kingdom  of  Castile.  Of  his  life  little 
The  Early  ^as  been  definitely  recorded.  We  can,  however, 
Life  of  learn  much  about  him  from  his  poems,  for,  like 

llev1'  most  poets,  he  wove  every  experience,  every 
emotion,  into  the  fabric  of  his  song.  He  was  probably  sent 
by  his  father  to  the  school  of  Isaac  Alfasi,  a  great  authority 
on  the  Talmud.  Here  Judah  studied  the  Bible  and  the  Tal- 
mud, and  here  he  probably  gained  the  mastery  of  Hebrew 

90 


Judak  Halevi  91 

that  made  his  poems  scarcely  inferior  to  those  of  the  psalm- 
ists of  old.  Nor  did  he  study  only  the  various  branches  of 
Jewish  learning;  he  became  well  acquainted  with  Arabic  and 
Castilian  literature,  with  the  natural  sciences,  astronomy,  and 
medicine,  and  with  Greek  and  Arabic  philosophy.  And,  as 
he  was  in  easy  circumstances,  he  pursued  these  studies  in  a 
pleasant,  leisurely  fashion. 

After  he  had  gained  all  that  he  could  at  Isaac  Alfasi's 

school,  he  returned  to  Toledo.     In  his  native  city,  he  earned 

his  livelihood  as  a  physician ;  and  he  soon  became 

H«  Early  . 

Poems.  so   widely   and    favorably    known,    and   acquired 

so  large  a  practice,  that  we  find  him  complain- 
ing in  a  letter  to  a  friend  of  lack  of  leisure  for  the  matters 
that  lay  nearest  his  heart, — his  studies  and  his  writing.  In 
Toledo  he  married,  and  from  allusions  in  some  of  his  poems 
we  learn  that  he  had  one  child,  a  daughter.  At  his  home 
there  gathered  about  the  scholarly  young  physician  a  large 
circle  of  friends,  many  of  them  the  most  famous  men  of  his 
time.  He  must  have  had  a  winning  personality,  for  these 
scholars  and  poets  loved  him  dearly.  Unlike  that  other 
Spanish  Hebrew  poet,  Solomon  ibn  Gabirol,  he  was  of  a 
serene  and  sunny  temperament.  His  capacity  for  friendship 
and  comradeship  is  reflected  in  the  poems  that  he  wrote 
about  this  time.  Some  celebrate  his  joy  at  the  happiness  of 
his  friends — at  the  marriage  of  one,  at  the  birth  of  a  child 
to  another.  Some  tell  of  his  profound  grief  when  death 
took  away  one  of  that  devoted  group.  Beautiful  love  songs, 
too,  he  wrote,  as  well  as  poems  of  friendship, — all  of  them 
voicing  his  passionate  love  for  his  wife.  Nature  he  loved, 
also ;  he  looked  with  delight  upon  the  charm  and  the  grandeur 
of  the  varied  scenery  of  Spain.  He  sang: 

"I  found  that  words   could   ne'er  express 
The   half  of  all   its   loveliness." 

Judah  Halevi's  character,  however,  was,  above  all,  reli 


92  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

gious.  In  every  moment  of  life, — in  the  commonplace  con- 
H;S  cerns  of  the  daily  task,  in  illness,  in  peril  at  sea, 

Religious  — God  is  the  Friend  above  all  earthly  friends — 
Mute*  dear  though  they  were;  God  is  the  ever-present 

Comforter  to  whom  the  poet  turned.  A  prayer  showing  the 
spirit  in  which  Halevi  pursued  his  calling  as  physician  closes 
with  these  lines: 

".    .    .    All   my  faith   I   place, 
Not    in    my    craft,    but    in    Thy    grace." 

A  love  of  God  not  less  intense  than  that  of  the  Psalmist 
is  expressed  in  the  verses, 

"When  I  am  estranged  from  Thee,  O  God, 
I   die   whilst   I   live;   but   when 
I   cleave  to  Thee,  I  live  even  in  death." 

"For  Thy  songs,  O  God!"  he  cried,  "my  heart  is  a  harp/' 
Every  holy  day  inspired  him  to  sing:  there  is  no  feast  day 
or  fast  day  that  is  not  enriched  by  his  songs.  More  than 
three  hundred  of  his  poems  have  been  adopted  into  the 
liturgy  of  the  synagogue;  his  hymns  beautify  the  services  of 
the  Jewish  home. 

Next  to  God,  the  poet  loved  his  people, — their  glorious 
past,  their  heroism  in  their  present  almost  unbearable  suffer- 
ings,  their   unconquerable    hope    for  the    future, 
of  Zion.         He  was  overcome  with   sorrow  at  the  sight  of 
Israel    scattered   among   the    nations,    robbed    of 
fatherland  and  Temple,  a  wanderer.    Yet  he  never  lost  faith 
in  the  eternity  of  the  people  with  the  God-given  mission. 
This  was  the  thought  that  gave  him  courage: 

"Lol   sun   and   moon,  these   minister   for  aye; 

The  laws  of  night  and   day  cease  nevermore: 
Given   for  signs  to   Jacob's   seed  that  they 

Shall   ever  be  a   nation — till  these  be   o'er. 
If  with    His   left  hand   He    should   thrust   away, 

Lol  with  His  right  hand  He  shall  draw  them  nigh. 


fudah  Halevi  93 

Let   them   not  cry;   'Tis   desperate';   nor  say: 

'Hope    faileth,   yea,   and    strength    is    near    to    die'; — 

Let  them   believe   that   they   shall  be   alway, 
Nor  cease  until  there  be  no  night  nor  day." 

No  other  Jewish  poet  so  closely  cherished  and  so  glow- 
ingly narrated  the  splendid  ancient  history  of  Israel;  no  one 
longed  more  fervently  to  set  foot  on  the  soil  of 

His      Songs         i         TT    «        i-          «  •«  ft 

of  z»on."        the   Holy   Land,   to   pray   m   the  courts   of   the 
sacred  Temple,   ruined   though   they   were.     For 
him  Jerusalem  was  "the  city  of  the  world": 

"Oh!   city   of   the   world,   most   chastely   fair; 
In  the   far  west,  behold   I   sigh  for  thee. 
And   in    my   yearning   love   I   do   bethink   me 
Of  bygone  ages;  of  thy  ruined  fane, 
The    vanished    splendor    of    a    vanished    day. 
Oh!   had   I   eagles'   wings   I'd   fly  to  thee 
And   with   my  falling  tears  make   moist  thine   earth. 
I    long  for   thee;    what    though  indeed  thy  kings 
Have  passed  forever;   though  where  once  uprose, 
Sweet  balsam   trees   the   serpent   makes   his   nest. 
Oh!  that  I   might  embrace  thy  dust,  the  sod 
Were    sweet   as    honey   to    my   fond    desire." 

It  is  songs  like  these  that  made  his  contemporaries  and 
succeeding  generations  recognize  him  as  the  great  Jewish 
national  poet,  expressing  in  his  inspired  verse  feelings  that 
stirred  the  hearts  of  all  the  exiled  members  of  his  race. 
For  the  Jews  of  the  Middle  Ages  keenly  felt  the  pangs  of 
exile:  they  yearned  for  the  land  of  Patriarch  and  Prophet, 
of  Psalmist  and  King.  Halevi's  best  poems  are  those  that 
give  utterance  to  this  burning  desire, — his  "Songs  of  Zion." 
The  greatest  of  them  contains  the  following  stanzas.  The 
translation  is  by  Alice  Lucas. 

"Art  thou  not,  Zion,  fain 

To   send   forth   greetings   from   thy    sacred    rock 
Unto  thy  captive  train 

Who   greet  thee   as   the   remnants   of   thy   flock? 


94  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Take    them,    on    every    side, 

East,    west    and    south    and    north,    their    greetings    multiplied. 

Sadly  he   greets   thee   still, 
The  prisoner  of  hope  who,  day  and  night, 

Sheds    ceaseless    tears,    like    dew    on    Hermon's    hill. 
Would   that   they  fell   upon   thy   mountain's   height. 

"The   glory   of  the   Lord   will   ever   be 

Thy    sole    and    perfect    light; 
No    need    hast    thou,    then,    to    illumine    thee, 

Of  sun  by  day,  and  moon   and   stars  by  night. 
I   would  that,  where   God's  spirit  was  of  yore 

Poured  out  unto  thy  holy  ones,  I  might 
There,  too,  my  soul  outpour! 

The  house  of  kings  and  throne  of  God  wert  thou. 

How   comes   it   then   that   now 
Slaves  fill  the  throne  where  sat  thy  kings  before? 

"O!  who  will  lead  me   on 

To  seek  the   spots  where,  in   far   distant  years, 
The    angels    in    their   glory    dawned    upon 

Thy   messengers   and   seers? 
O!   who  will   give   me   wings 

That   I   may  fly  away, 
And  there,  at  rest  from  all  my  wanderings, 

The  ruins  of  my  heart  among  thy  ruins  lay? 
I'll  bend  my  face  unto  thy  soil,  and  hold 
Thy  stones  as  precious   gold. 

^'Thy  air  is  life  unto  my  soul,  thy  grains 

Of  dust  are  myrrh,  thy  streams  with  honey  flow; 

Naked  and  barefoot,  to  thy  ruined  fanes 
How  gladly  would  I  go; 

To   where   the   ark   was   treasured,   and    in   dim 

Recesses  dwelt  the  holy  cherubim. 

"Perfect   in    beauty,   Zion,   how    in    thee 

Do  love  and  grace  unite! 
The  souls  of  thy  companions  tenderly 

Turn   unto   thee:     thy  joy  was   their  delight. 
And  weeping  they  lament  thy  ruin  now. 

In   distant   exile,   for  thy   sacred   height 
They  long,  and  towards  thy  gates  in  prayer  they  bow. 

Thy   flocks   are   scattered   o'er   the   barren   waste. 


Judah  Halevi  95 

Yet  do  they  not  forget  thy  sheltering  fold, 

Unto   thy    garments'    fringe    they    cling,   and    haste 
The  branches  of  thy  palms  to  seize  and  hold. 

"The   Lord  desires  thee  for  His  dwelling  place 

Eternally;    and    blest 
Is  he  whom   God  has  chosen   for  the  gracp 

Within  thy  courts  to   rest. 
Happy  is  he  that  watches,  drawing  near, 

Until   he   sees   thy   glorious    light   arise, 
And  over  whom  thy  dawn  breaks  full  and  clear 

Set  in  the  Orient  skies. 
But  happiest  he,  who,  with  exultant  eyes, 

The  bliss  of  thy  redeemed  ones  shall  behold, 
And  see  thy  youth  renewed  as  in  the  days  of  old." 

It  was  not  only  in  his  beautiful  poems  that  Judah  Halevi 
wrote  about  Judaism.  He  was  philosopher  as  well  as  poet. 
Philosopher  ^e  had  profound  thoughts  about  life  and  religion, 
as  well  as  thoughts  that  demanded  fuller  expression  than 
they  could  find  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a 
lyric.  But  because  Halevi  had  the  poet's  imagination,  the 
poet's  love  of  telling  his  story  vividly,  he  was  not  content  to 
put  his  thoughts  into  a  dry,  unlovely  treatise.  Like  Plato, 
the  great  Greek  philosopher,  like  the  author  of  the  Book  of 
Job,  he  sought  an  interesting  framework  in  which  to  set 
forth  his  philosophy.  This  he  found  in  the  story  of  the  con- 
version of  the  Chazars,  which  gave  him  the  background  for 
his  great  philosophical  discussion.  The  conversation  between 
the  inquiring  king  and  the  wise  men  to  whom  he  turned 
for  guidance  gave  Halevi  an  opportunity  to  express  his  own 
thoughts  on  religion. 

He  represented  Bulan  as  seeking  light  first  from  a  phil- 
osopher, who  told  the  king  of  a  God  who  was  remote  from 
The  the  affairs  of  earth,  with  no  connection  with 

Framework  of  human  events  and  no  interest  in  man.  This  view 
seemed  cold  and  comfortless  to  the  troubled 
heathen ;  he  would  have  none  of  it.  He  summoned  then  a 


96  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Christian  priest  to  learn  from  him  the  true  religion.  The 
priest  told  him  that  Christianity  accepts  as  true  much  that 
Judaism  teaches,  but  holds  as  its  fundamental  belief  the 
mystic  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  that  is  still  a  Unity;  Bulan, 
however,  found  that  his  reason  refused  to  accept  this,  and 
he  accordingly  rejected  Christianity  as  not  in  accord  with 
the  demands  of  the  intellect.  He  turned  next  to  a  Moham- 
medan. Surely  now  he  would  hear  the  true  way  to  worship 
God.  The  Mohammedan  based  the  authority  of  his  religion 
on  a  book,  the  Koran.  No  man,  he  said,  would  be  capable 
of  producing  so  remarkable  a  book;  it  must  therefore  be 
of  divine  origin.  .To  the  pagan  king,  however,  the  Koran 
was  a  sealed  volume;  he  could  not  read  it.  And  so  the 
Arab,  too,  left  him  unsatisfied.  Both  Christian  and  Moham- 
medan, in  tracing  the  historical  development  of  their  reli- 
gions, had  mentioned  Judaism  as  the  foundation  upon  which 
each  later  religion  had  been  reared.  Accordingly,  the  truth- 
seeking  king  sent  at  last  for  one  of  the  despised  and  scat- 
tered race  of  Jews,  and  questioned  him  concerning  the 
teachings  of  his  faith.  Into  this  conversation  between  rabbi 
and  king,  Halevi  wove  his  interpretation  of  the  meaning  of 
Judaism. 

It  is  not  to  the  philosophers — said  Halevi's  rabbi — that 
we  must  turn  for  knowledge  of  God,  but  to  the  prophets. 
Faith  not  Faith,  not  philosophy,  is  the  trustworthy  guide  in 
Philosophy,  religion.  Cold  reason  alone  can  not  penetrate  the 
the  Guide.  (jeeper  mysteries ;  unaided  by  the  revelation  of 
God,  it  gropes  in  the  dark.  In  this  manner  Halevi  rebuked 
those  Spanish  Jews  who  had  come  more  and  more  to  put 
their  trust  in  systems  of  philosophy — systems  that  came  and 
went  with  the  changing  thought  of  the  age — now  Plato  and 
again  Aristotle — rather  than  in  the  changeless  God. 

The  rabbi  went  on  to  defend  the  persecuted  race  and  the 
despised  faith  against  the  more  powerful  creeds.  Neither 
Christianity  nor  Islam  helps  us,  he  said,  for  these  religions 


Judah  Halevi  97 

turn  their  back  on  reason;  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  their 
Th*  ,  faith  are  opposed  to  reason.  Judaism,  on  the  con- 

Unbroken  J     .  * 

chain  of  trary,  is  reasonable;  although  it  assigns  to  rea- 
TCradition.  son  its  limits,  and  does  not,  as  we  have  seen, 
follow  the  philosophers  into  the  labyrinth  of  conclusions  in 
which,  in  Halevi's  day,  they  had  entangled  themselves,  far 
from  the  truth  they  seemed  to  be  seeking.  Philosophy — 
reason — can  not  assail  Judaism,  for  Judaism  stands  on  a 
firm  basis  of  historical  facts,  a  genuine  and  indisputable  tra- 
dition. Here  the  rabbi  pointed  to  the  unbroken  chain  of 
Jewish  history,  showing  the  preservation  of  the  chosen  race 
throughout  the  ages.  Here  is  the  people  that  first  recognized 
God  in  His  world;  the  people  that,  since  the  time  of  the 
Patriarchs,  has  clung  steadfastly  to  its  faith  in  Him,  despite 
well-nigh  intolerable  persecution.  Surely  a  people  that  sur- 
vives the  calamities  that  have  befallen  the  Israelites  is  being 
preserved  by  the  especial  grace  of  God  for  His  divine  pur- 
pose. He  delivered  them  from  the  slavery  of  Egypt ;  He 
led  them  safely  through  the  perils  of  the  wilderness ;  He 
throws  about  them  still  His  providential  care. 

Nor  is  the  king  to  think  that  the  present  miserable  con- 
dition of  the  Jews,  scattered  among  the  nations,  oppressed 
Israel  the  anc^  scorned,  is  proof  of  their  inferiority.  No 
Heart  among  more  is  this  true  than  that  the  wealth  and  power 
nons.  o£  Christians  an(j  Moslems  are  signs  of  their 
superiority.  Indeed,  poverty  and  misery,  despised  by  men, 
are  of  higher  merit  with  God  than  presumptuous  pride  and 
overbearing  greatness.  Do  not  the  Christians  themselves 
profess  to  take  most  pride,  not  in  their  mighty  princes,  but 
in  the  lowly  Jesus,  and  in  the  saints  who  suffered  humilia- 
tion, persecution,  and  martyrdom?  And  do  not  the  Moslems 
reverence  the  memory  of  those  followers  of  the  Prophet 
who  endured  much  suffering  for  his  sake?  But  the  greatest 
sufferer  is  Israel.  He  is  among  men  what  the  heart  is  to 
the  body.  Just  as  the  heart  suffers  with  every  hurt  that 


98  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

any  part  of  the  body  feels,  so  Israel  feels  most  keenly  every 
wrongdoing  among  the  nations.  He  is,  in  the  words  of  the 
prophet,  "despised  and  rejected  of  men;  a  man  of  sorrows, 
and  acquainted  with  grief."  For  God  knows  that  the  heart 
of  mankind  can  endure  most;  therefore  he  has  afflicted  it 
most  sorely.  That  is  part  of  its  preparation  for  its  great 
task,  its  mission  of  spreading  the  truth  of  God  to  all  the 
peoples  of  the  earth.  For  this  duty  Israel  has  been  trained 
by  the  teachings  of  the  Torah,  the  burning  messages  of  the 
prophets,  the  wise  regulations  of  sages  and  rabbis. 

But  Israel  will  not  suffer  forever.  A  brighter  future 
will  dawn  for  the  priest-people.  Israel  is  like  the  seed, 
Israel  the  scattered  in  the  dark  earth,  apparently  lost  and 
Seed  of  God's  dead.  At  the  appointed  season,  like  the  seed,  it 
Planting.  w^j  Sprmg  to  new  life  in  bud  and  blossom.  "The 
wise  providence  of  God  towards  Israel  may  be  compared 
to  the  planting  of  a  seed  of  corn.  It  is  placed  in  the  earth, 
where  it  seems  to  be  changed  into  soil,  and  water,  and  rot- 
tenness. And  the  seed  can  no  longer  be  recognized.  But  in 
very  truth  it  is  the  seed  that  has  changed  the  earth  and 
water  into  its  own  nature,  and  then  the  seed  raises  itself 
from  one  stage  to  another,  transforms  the  elements,  and 
throws  out  shoots  and  leaves.  .  .  .  Thus  it  is  with  Chris- 
tians and  Moslems.  The  Law  of  Moses  has  changed  them 
that  have  come  into  contact  with  it,  even  though  they  seem 
to  have  cast  the  Law  aside.  These  religions  are  the  prepa- 
ration and  the  preface  to  the  Messiah  we  expect,  who  is  the 
fruit  Himself  of  the  seed  originally  sown,  and  all  men,  too, 
will  be  fruit  of  God's  seed  when  they  acknowledge  Him,  and 
all  become  one  mighty  tree."  As  soon,  then,  as  the  religions 
that  have  proceeded  from  Judaism  shall  have  completed  their 
task  of  preparing  mankind  to  worship  the  one  true  God, 
then  shall  come  the  time  when  all  the  earth  shall  acknowl- 
edge Jehovah  as  He  revealed  Himself  to  His  people.  And 
on  that  day  Israel  shall  be  honored  as  the  nation  that  at  all 


Judah  Halevi  99 

times  honored  Him.  Notice,  by  the  way,  the  noble  tolerance 
of  Halevi's  words,  spoken,  you  must  remember,  when  Israel 
was  being  persecuted  by  both  Christians  and  Moslems. 

Thus  Judah  Halevi  refuted  the  attacks  that  philosophers, 
Christians,  and  Mohammedans  made  upon  Judaism,  and  elo- 
The  influence  quently  preached  his  own  conception  of  his  reli- 
of  the  gion.  His  book  had  a  tremendous  influence  on 

thoughtful  men.  Written  in  Arabic,  it  was  trans- 
lated into  Hebrew  and  Latin,  and  later  into  many  other 
languages. 

Scarcely  was  the  "Cuzari"  finished  when  Halevi's  longing 

for  Jerusalem   became   an   overpowering   passion.     He   had 

always  yearned  for  the  land  of  his  fathers,  and 

A  Pilgrim  J 

to  zion.  now  that  his  wife  was  dead,  there  was  no  bond 
that  could  hold  him  to  Spain.  Neither  the  daugh- 
ter whom  he  dearly  loved,  nor  his  grandson;  neither  the 
devotion  of  his  pupils  nor  the  happiness  of  communion  with 
his  friends  could  now  keep  the  poet  from  the  land  of  his 
dreams.  From  the  comfort  and  security  of  Spain  he  em- 
barked on  his  adventurous,  dangerous  journey.  After  a 
stormy  sea  voyage,  he  arrived  in  Egypt.  There  he  visited 
all  the  places  where  his  forefathers  had  lived  and  suffered. 
Then,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  Egyptian  Jews,  who 
pleaded  with  their  distinguished  visitor  to  remain  in  their 
land,  hallowed  by  so  many  Jewish  memories,  he  went  for- 
ward, retracing  the  desert  route  over  which  Moses  had  led 
the  Jewish  wanderers  of  old.  Again  we  hear  of  the  poet, 
worn  out  with  the  rigors  of  travel,  in  Tyre  and  Damascus. 
And  here  we  lose  sight  of  him ;  the  records  cease.  But 
Jewish  legend  has  taken  up  the  story  where  history  breaks 
off.  It  tells  us  that  Halevi's  desire  was  fulfilled — that  he 
reached  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  his  songs,  and  stood  at  last 
at  its  gate.  Thrilled  by  the  sight  of  the  Holy  City,  he 
bowed  himself  to  the  ground  and  sang  his  most  beautiful 
song  of  Zion.  At  that  moment  an  Arab  horseman  dashed 


100  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

recklessly  through  the  gate;  and  the  poet,  trampled  to  the 
earth,  died  with  the  song  on  his  lips.  Neither  the  year  of 
his  death  nor  the  place  of  his  burial  is  known  to  us.  It  is 
probable,  however,  that  he  died  in  1146. 

And  more  durable  than  a  monument  in  marble  or  bronze, 
he  has,  to  perpetuate  his  name,  his  great  work  on  religion 
••A  Fiery  anc^  philosophy,  and  his  wonderful  songs  that 
pillar  of  helped  his  descendants,  through  all  the  dreary 
Sweet  Song."  years  o£  tnejr  oppression,  to  confidence  and  cour- 
age. They  gratefully  remember  his  lessons, — that  faith  will 
guide  the  world  through  every  puzzling  doubt,  faith  in  the 
God  who  revealed  Himself  through  patriarch  and  prophet, 
and  who  manifests  Himself  and  His  divine  purpose  in  the 
preservation  of  Israel  through  the  ages  of  trial  and  prepara- 
tion for  a  time  when  the  "heart  of  nations"  shall  no  longer 
suffer,  but  shall  rejoice  in  a  united  mankind  worshipping  the 
one  God  together.  And  even  more  than  they  treasure  his 
philosophy,  they  sing  his  songs,  wherever  they  gather  in 
worship  on  Sabbaths  and  on  holy  days,  his  songs  so  fervent 
in  their  love  of  God  and  their  faith  in  His  promises,  so 
passionate  in  their  devotion  to  the  "heart  of  nations"  and 
the  "heart  of  the  world",  and  so  exquisitely  beautiful  in  their 
melody,  that  Judah  Halevi  has  remained  to  this  day  one  of 
the  most  tenderly  loved  of  all  the  great  men  of  Israel's  rich 
past.  Love  of  him  inspired  Heinrich  Heine  to  write  a  long 
poem  of  reverent  admiration,  in  which  the  German  poet 
eloquently  retold  the  story  of  the  Spanish  Jewish  singer.  He 
calls  him: 

"Star  and  torch  to  guide  his  time, 
Light  and  beacon  of  his  nation; 

"Fiery   pillar   of   sweet   song, 
Moving  on   in   front   of   Israel's 
Caravans    of    woe    and    mourning 
In  the  wilderness  of  exile." 


Judah  Halevi  101 

SUGGESTIONS    FOR   FURTHER   READING. 

Friedlander,  J.:     Standard  Book   of  Jewish   Verse,  pp.  237-40,  357, 

374,  377,  406,  425,  438,  465,  481. 
Graetz:    Geschichte,  VoL  VI,  Ch.  6. 
Graetz :    History  of  the  Jews,  VoL  IV,  p.  67  ff . 
Husik,  I.:     History  of  Mediaeval  Jewish  Philosophy,  pp.  150-183. 
Jacobs,  Joseph:    Jewish  Ideals,  pp.  103-135. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VII,  p.  346,  Article  Judah  Halevi. 
Kaempf.:     Nichtandalusische  Poesie,  pp.   241-289. 
Lady  Magnus:    Portraits,  Chapter  1. 
Neumark,  D.:    Jehuda  Halevi' s  Philosophy  in  Its  Principles,  Hebrew 

Union  College  Catalogue,  Cincinnati,  1908. 
Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  108-121. 


XII. 

ABRAHAM  IBN  EZRA. 

An  old  legend  tells  us  that  when  Judah  Halevi's  daughter 
had  grown  to  young  womanhood,  her  mother  frequently  re- 
proached the  poet  because  he  made  no  attempt  to 
ibn  Ezra.  find  a  suitable  husband  for  their  only  child.  One 
day,  losing  patience,  Judah  Halevi  is  said  to  have 
exclaimed,  "The  first  stranger  who  enters  my  house  shall 
become  my  son-in-law."  That  very  day  there  came  to  beg 
shelter  at  the  poet's  house  a  wayfarer,  his  clothing  worn  and 
travel-stained.  To  the  alarmed  eyes  of  the  anxious  mother 
the  wanderer  seemed  uncouth  and  ignorant.  The  father,  how- 
ever, took  the  stranger  in.  Now  on  that  day  the  poet  had 
been  working  on  a  Purim  song.  When  he  had  almost  fin- 
ished the  poem,  his  inspiration  suddenly  left  him,  and,  try 
as  he  would,  he  could  not  find  the  appropriate  thought,  the 
fitting  words.  At  last,  leaving  his  task  unfinished,  he  went 
to  his  rest.  The  stranger,  meanwhile,  had  noticed  the  anxiety 
of  his  host.  When  the  house  grew  quiet,  and  he  was  sure 
that  every  one  slept,  he  went  softly  into  Halevi's  study  and 
there  found  the  unfinished  poem.  In  a  few  minutes  he  had 
supplied  the  missing  end.  The  next  morning  Halevi  was 
astonished  to  find  his  poem  completed,  and  to  read  in  the 
last  lines  the  thought  that  he  had  long  sought  in  vain.  In 
great  surprise  he  cried,  "That  was  written  either  by  an  angel 
or  by  Abraham  ibn  Ezra."  And  Abraham  ibn  Ezra  it  was. 

102 


Abraham  ibn  Ezra  103 

This  old  story  gives  us  a  vivid  picture  of  that  scholar 
and  thinker,  Abraham  ibn  Ezra.     It  shows  him  as  a  wan- 
derer, carrying  his  poetic  gift,  his  varied  learning, 

A  Wandering  .,  .  .  ,  .  ...  .       ,     .      , 

Teacher.  his  striking  ideas  into  many  lands.  And  indeed 
he  was  a  restless  wanderer  all  his  days.  He  was 
born  in  Toledo  in  1092.  But  although  he  always  called  him- 
self a  Spaniard,  and  gave  frequent  expression  to  his  love  for 
his  fatherland,  he  was  an  exile  all  his  life.  What  urged  him 
to  undertake  his  wide  travels  we  do  not  know.  Possibly  an 
early  outburst  of  prejudice  against  the  Jews  of  his  native 
town  made  him  fear  a  troubled  future  in  Spain.  Possibly 
it  was  poverty  that  sent  him  abroad  to  seek  his  fortune  in 
distant  lands,  for  he  has  left  evidence  that  he  was  not  pros- 
perous. "I  strive  to  become  wealthy",  he  wrote  whimsically, 
"but  the  stars  are  opposed  to  me.  If  I  were  to  take  to 
shroud-making,  men  would  leave  off  dying;  or  if  I  made 
candles,  the  sun  would  never  set  until  I  gave  it  up."  But 
whether  it  was  because  he  found  himself  unable  to  make  a 
livelihood  at  home  or  not,  it  is  certain  that,  once  he  had 
started  upon  his  travels,  his  restless  and  inquiring  spirit 
kept  him  journeying  from  land  to  land.  And  this  very  rest- 
lessness of  his  was  of  incalculable  benefit  to  the  Jews  of  his 
day.  For  at  a  time  when  the  achievements  of  the  scholars 
of  one  country  were  little  known  beyond  the  borders  of  that 
country,  Abraham  ibn  Ezra  carried  the  rich  treasures  of 
Spanish-Jewish  learning  into  far  distant  communities,  which, 
but  for  him,  would  have  remained  ignorant  of  the  lore  of  the 
Jews  of  Spain.  He  visited  Africa,  Egypt,  Palestine,  Babylon, 
Italy,  France,  and  England.  Wherever  there  were  Jews,  they 
gathered  around  him  in  large  numbers,  charmed  by  his  learn- 
ing and  his  wit;  and  from  him  they  gained  a  knowledge  of 
the  broad  culture  and  the  philosophical  outlook  of  the  Span- 
ish Jew  and,  above  all,  of  his  intelligent  appreciation  of  the 
Bible 

In  spite  of  his  restless   wandering,   Abraham   ibn   Ezra 


104  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

found  time  to  be  very  active  as  a  writer,  and  his  works  show 
the   variety   of   his   attainments.      For   he   was   a 

His  Varied  .  .  11-11 

Writings.  man  of  exceptionally  wide  learning,  and,  like  the 
other  great  Spanish  Jews  of  his  time,  was  mathe- 
matician and  astronomer,  as  well  as  Hebrew  grammarian 
and  Bible  commentator.  He  translated  Arabic  works  into 
Hebrew,  thereby  making  the  Jews  of  Christian  Europe  ac- 
quainted with  the  culture  of  the  Mohammedans.  An  alge- 
braic text-book  of  his  was  translated  into  Latin  and  made 
his  name  as  familiar  to  non-Jews  as  to  Jews.  The  Jews, 
however,  were  less  interested  in  the  great  mathematician 
than  they  were  in  the  great  Bible  critic.  They  read  his 
grammatical  text-books,  in  which  he  gave  the  Jews  outside 
Spain  the  knowledge  of  the  construction  and  use  of  Hebrew 
which  his  learned  countrymen  had  gained,  and  which  is  so 
essential  to  a  correct  and  thorough  understanding  of  the 
Bible.  They  read  his  works  on  religious  philosophy,  one, 
for  example,  defending  the  great  Jewish  philosopher  Saadia 
from  adverse  criticism. 

But  most  important  of  all  his  works  is  his  Biblical  com- 
mentary,  which   covers   almost  the  entire  Bible,   and  is   re- 
garded  as    the   most   noteworthy   Bible   commen- 

His   Biblical  ,     .  _        ,  ,  .  , 

Commentary,  tary  of  the  Spanish  period.  It  shows  his  unusual 
learning,  especially  his  masterly  knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew  language.  It  shows  his  clear  insight  and  his  bold 
and  original  power  of  thought.  Few  difficulties  escaped  his 
sharp  eyes.  He  explained  obscure  words  and  made  dark 
passages  clear.  In  the  introduction  to  his  commentary  on 
the  Pentateuch  he  expressed  his  opinion  of  all  the  Biblical 
critics  who  had  preceded  him  and  thus  stated  the  principles 
which,  in  his  estimation,  should  govern  all  Bible  commentary. 
The  Gaonim,  he  wrote,  had  introduced  into  their  commen- 
taries material  that  was  not  necessary,  and  had  thus  made 
them  too  long.  The  Karaites,  he  held,  were  wrong  in  think- 
ing that  they  could  understand  the  Bible  without  the  aid  of 


Abraham  ibn  Ezra  105 

tradition:  Ibn  Ezra  believed  that  tradition  was  indispensa- 
ble to  a  correct  interpretation  of  the  Bible.  Many  com- 
mentators, he  pointed  out,  had  read  allegorical  meanings  into 
the  Bible  and  had  woven  fantastical  interpretations  about 
the  simplest  words  of  the  Holy  Book.  All  these  mistakes 
Ibn  Ezra  tried  to  avoid.  His  aim  was  to  make  the  text 
clear  in  a  simple,  natural,  reasonable  way — in  much  the 
same  manner,  in  fact,  as  that  in  which  Rashi  had  written 
about  a  half  century  earlier;  except  that  Rashi  had  added 
to  the  simple  sense  of  the  passage  the  fanciful  meaning  of 
which  Ibn  Ezra  disapproved.  And  like  Rashi's  works,  Ibn 
Ezra's  also  inspired  many  students  to  a  careful,  scholarly 
consideration  of  the  Bible. 

Ibn  Ezra's  commentary  was   further  remarkable  for  the 

boldness   and    independence    with    which   the   Spanish   critic 

allowed  his  keen  mind  to  work  upon  the  problems 

His  Boldness 

of  Thought  of  the  sacred  text.  Thus  he  suggested,  although 
but  vaguely,  that  several  passages  in  the  Torah 
belong  to  a  period  later  than  that  of  Moses,  the  great  law- 
giver; and  his  brilliant  commentary  on  Isaiah  shows  that  he 
believed  chapters  XL-LXVI  to  have  been  written,  not  by 
that  Isaiah  who  began  his  inspired  preaching  "in  the  year 
that  King  Uzziah  died,"  but  by  another  who  lived  and  taught 
at  the  end  of  the  Babylonian  exile. 

Because  of  Ibn  Ezra's  restless,  unsettled  spirit,  he  has 
been  very  differently  judged  bv  different  people.  His  inner 
life  was  no  less  changeful  than  his  outer  life. 
Character.  He  lacked  the  concentration,  the  balance,  the 
unswerving  devotion  of  Judah  Halevi.  He  never 
succeeded  in  determining  for  himself  a  definite,  consistent 
attitude  towards  the  problems  of  life.  Here  he  is  conserva- 
tive and  clings  to  tradition ;  there  he  is  radical  and  strikes 
out  into  uncharted  seas  of  thought.  Now  he  makes  a  state- 
ment about  ethics  or  morality  that  is  true  not  only  for  his 
day,  but  for  all  time;  and  again  he  shows  himself  hampered 


106  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

by  mediaeval  delusions,  as  when  he  accepts  astrology,  that 
popular  superstitution  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Just  as  he  trav- 
eled from  land  to  land,  content  in  none,  so  he  went  from 
subject  to  subject,  his  active  mind  always  glancing  off  towards 
matters  only  slightly  connected  with  the  theme  on  which  he 
happened  to  be  writing.  Brilliant  as  he  was,  he  lacked  the 
concentration  and  continuity  of  thought  necessary  for  an 
exhaustive  treatise,  and  so  his  writings  are  often  rather  col- 
lections of  illuminating  notes  than  completed  essays.  But 
all  this  is  merely  saying  that  he  was  Abraham  ibn  Ezra,  and 
that  he  suffered  from  the  defects  that  often  go  with  the 
characteristic  merits  of  his  temperament.  To  close  our  ac- 
count of  him  on  a  note  more  gracious  and  appreciative,  let 
us  remember  that  Robert  Browning  found  in  this  Hebrew 
sage  the  character  for  one  of  his  noblest  poems,  "Rabbi  Ben 
Ezra".  The  English  poet  represents  the  Jewish  philosopher 
in  his  old  age,  looking  back,  with  large  and  patient  vision, 
over  a  long  and  changeful  life,  and  finding  it  all  very  good,  — 
both  youth  with  its  restless  aspirations  and  age  with  its 
meditative  quiet. 

Ibn  Ezra  was  himself  a  poet,  too,  and  although  he  never 

achieved  the  harmony  of  thought  and  feeling  and  expression 

that  are  Judah  Halevi's,  yet  his  poems  were  treas- 

Hw  Import-  J  ,  .    1  .         .  ,         , 

To-day,    ured  by   the  men  of   his   time,   many   of   whom 


praised  them  highly.  He  is  known  to  history, 
however,  less  as  the  poet  than  as  the  traveling  scholar  who 
exerted  a  great  and  good  influence  on  the  Jewish  thought  of 
his  day  by  spreading  Jewish  learning  from  Spain  throughout 
the  world;  as  the  scientific  student  of  the  Hebrew  language; 
and,  most  important,  as  the  Biblical  commentator  who,  con- 
tinuing the  method  of  Saadia,  treated  the  text  of  the  Bible 
in  a  thoroughly  scholarly  and  scientific  manner,  and  left  the 
most  noteworthy  Spanish  contribution  to  Biblical  criticism. 
The  scholars  of  all  succeeding  ages  owe  much  to  his  pioneer 
work. 


Abraham  ibn  Hzra  107 

Again  we  may  turn  to  Heine;  this  time  because  the  ap- 
preciative lines  in  which  he  reproaches  Jewish  maidens  for 
their  ignorance  of  this  Spanish-Jewish  literature  will  serve 
to  fix  in  our  minds  the  names  of  the  great  men  about  whom 
we  have  been  reading,  although  Heine's  Ibn  Ezra  is  not 
Abraham,  but  Moses,  the  poet.1 

"If  one  asks  the  name  most  famous 
In   the   glorious   golden   age, 
Of   the   Jewish    school   of   poets, 
The  Arabian  Old-Spanish — 

"For   the   starry  trio  asks   them, 
For  Jehuda  ben  Halevy, 
For   great    Solomon    Gabirol, 
Or  for  Moses  Ibn  Ezra — 

"For  such  names  if  one  should  ask  them, 
Then   they  know  not  what  to   answer. 
And  the   children   stare  dumbfounded, 
Puzzled,   stare   with   wondering   eyeb. 

"I   advise    you    strongly,    dearest, 
To   retrieve   those   past   omissions, 
And  to  learn  the  Hebrew  language. 
Leave  your  theatres  and  concerts, 

"And   devote   some   years   to   study. 
You   will  then  with   ease   be  able 
In  the  ancient  text  to  read  them, 
Ibn  Ezra  and  Gabirol. 

"And,  of  course,  the  great  Halevy, 
The    triumvirate    poetic. 
Who  of  old  the  sweetest  music 
Drew  from   out  the   harp   of  David. 

"In   the   realm  of  thought   Gabirol 
Shines,   and   pleases  best  the   thinkerv 
While  in   art  shines   Ibn   Ezra, 
And   thereby   delights   the   artist; 

translation  by  Margaret  Armour. 


108  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

"But  Jehuda  ben   Halevy, 
Both   their   attributes    combining, 
Is  a  great  and  glorious  poet 
And  beloved  of  all  alike." 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Friedlander,    J. :      Standard   Book    of   Jewish    Verse,   pp.    420-6. 

Friedlander,  M. :     Essays  on  the   Writings  of  Ibn  Ezra. 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  VI,  esp.  Note  8   (p.  378  ff). 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  366-75. 

Husik,    I. :     History   of   Mediaeval  Jewish   Philosophy,   pp.    187-196. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VI,  p.   520,  Article  Ibn  Ezra,  Abraham 

b.   Meir. 

Kaempf:     Nichtandalusische  Poesie,  pp.  213-40. 
Rosenau,   W. :     Jewish  Biblical   Commentators,  pp.  81-88. 


XIII. 
MOSES   MAIMONIDES. 

In  the  last  years  of  the  twelfth  century  there  seemed  to 
be  no  land  to  which  the  Jews  could  turn  with  satisfaction 
Persecution  anc*  Pri^e>  assured  that  here  conditions  were 
in  Moorish  favorable  to  the  development  of  Judaism,  that 
here  were  counselors  and  guides,  the  spiritual 
leaders  of  the  scattered  people.  Moorish  Spain,  which  had 
held  this  proud  position,  now  passed  for  a  time  into  the  con- 
trol of  fanatical  Mohammedans  from  North  Africa,  brave 
soldiers,  but  uncouth  men,  contemptuous  of  the  culture  which 
the  Jews  shared  with  the  gentler  Mohammedans  of  Spain, 
and  intolerant  of  any  religion  but  their  own.  "No  church 
and  no  synagogue"  was  their  battle-cry,  and  they  gave  to 
Jews  and  to  Christians  alike  the  choice  of  exile  or  death. 
But  while  the  Christians  had  only  to  go  to  Northern  Spain, 
to  the  Christian  communities  there,  where  were  the  Jews 
to  find  a  refuge?  The  same  fate  threatened  them  in  almost 
all  lands.  In  despair  some  Jews  assumed  the  disguise  of 
Mohammedanism.  They  attended  public  services  in  the 
mosques  and  acknowledged  Mohammed  with  their  lips,  but 
in  their  hearts  they  were  still  Jews  and  in  secret  they  still 
practised  Jewish  rites.  Often  this  unwelcome  mask  of 
Mohammedanism  was  the  price  a  man  paid,  not  for  his  own 
life,  but  for  the  security  of  his  children,  his  wife,  and  his 
aged  parents.  Still  there  were  but  few  who  thus  bartered 
their  spiritual  freedom  for  the  privilege  of  remaining  in  the 

109 


110 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


Moses  Maimonides. 


Moses  Maitnonides  111 

land  which  meant  for  them  comparative  safety,  the  land 
they  loved  with  a  devotion  that  no  country  except  Palestine 
itself  had  ever  inspired  in  them.  The  great  majority  did 
not  lack  the  courage  to  follow  the  truth  at  any  cost.  Syna- 
gogues were  destroyed,  schools  were  scattered,  and  the  faith- 
ful Jews  of  Southern  Spain  went  out  into  the  uncertainty 
and  danger  of  their  perilous  exile. 

It  was  in  this  time  of  persecution  that  there  was  born  in 

Cordova,  on  Passover  Eve,  1135,  Moses  ben  Maimon.     The 

boy  came  of  a  family  of   scholars.     His   father, 

Moses   ben         ...        ,  .  . 

Maimon.  hke  his  ancestors  for  eight  generations  back,  was 
a  learned  Talmudist  and  a  member  of  the  rab- 
binical college  of  Cordova.  Like  all  cultured  Spanish  Jews, 
he  took  an  interest  in  the  sciences,  knew  mathematics  and 
astronomy,  and  wrote  books  on  these  subjects  as  well  as 
on  Talmudical  topics.  It  was  from  this  gentle,  scholarly 
father  that  the  boy  learned  the  Bible  and  the  Talmud,  and 
mathematics  and  astronomy.  He  was  placed  at  an  early 
age,  too,  under  distinguished  Arabic  professors,  who  taught 
him  science,  medicine,  and  philosophy. 

He  was  only  thirteen  when  Cordova  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  African  Mohammedans ;  and  when  the  fanatics  forced 
the  Jews  to  choose  between  Islam  and  exile,  his 
Spain!  father  chose  for  himself  and  his  family  the  more 

heroic  course.  For  years  they  wandered  from 
place  to  place,  first  in  Spain,  then  in  Africa.  Finally,  they 
settled  near  Cairo,  in  Egypt.  Here  they  were  to  suffer  fur- 
ther misfortunes.  First  the  father  died.  Then  the  brother, 
who  supported  the  family  by  trading  in  precious  stones,  was 
lost  at  sea. 

The  health  of  Moses  had  been  shattered  by  these  repeated 
blows,  but  now  the  support  of  the  family  fell  on  his  frail 
_L  .  .  shoulders  and  he  set  out  bravely  to  earn  a  liveli- 

Physician    to  1  •  j 

the  Sultan,      hood.     Like  all  the  sages  of  his  time  he  consid- 
ered it  wrong  to  use  his  religious  learning  as  a 


112  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

means  of  earning  money.  Later  the  demands  of  a  com- 
munity upon  its  rabbi  became  so  all-absorbing  that  a  man 
could  not  follow  a  trade  or  a  profession  and  at  the  same 
time  minister  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  his  congregation.  But 
that  time  had  not  yet  come,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  look  back 
upon  the  Rabbi  of  Cairo  among  his  patients  like  the  Rabbi 
of  Troyes  in  his  vineyard.  For  Moses  ben  Maimon  decided 
to  become  a  physician,  and  gradually  he  became  so  favorably 
known  that  he  attracted  the  notice  of  influential  people  and 
was  appointed  doctor  at  the  court  of  the  great  Saladin,  that 
learned,  chivalrous  Saladin  with  whom  the  pages  of  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott's  "Talisman"  and  Lessing's  "Nathan  the  Wise"  have 
made  many  readers  pleasantly  familiar.  Famous  physicians 
came  to  Cairo  to  see  the  great  Jewish  doctor.  Poets  sang  his 
praises.  His  chief  merits  seem  to  have  been  that  he  recog- 
nized how  deeply  the  health  of  the  body  is  affected  by  the 
health  of  the  mind,  and  that  he  realized  how  much  better  it 
is  for  a  physician  to  prevent  illness  than  to  cure  it.  Indeed, 
according  to  an  Arabian  historian,  he  was  sought  as  court 
doctor  by  no  less  a  personage  than  Richard  the  Lionhearted, 
but  he  declined  the  honor. 

From  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  a  friend  we  may  gain 
an  idea  of  the  busy  life  he  led: 

"My  duties  to  the  Sultan  are  very  heavy.  I 
BUS  Life  am  obliged  to  visit  him  every  day,  early  in  the 
morning;  and  when  he,  or  any  of  his  children, 
or  any  of  the  inmates  of  his  harem,  are  indisposed,  I  dare 
not  quit  Cairo"  [about  one  mile  and  a  half  from  his  home  in 
Fostat],  "but  must  stay  during  the  greater  part  of  the  day  in 
the  palace.  It  also  frequently  happens  that  one  or  two  of 
the  royal  officers  fall  sick,  and  I  must  attend  to  their  heal- 
ing. Hence,  as  a  rule,  I  repair  to  Cairo  very  early  in  the 
day,  and  even  if  nothing  unusual  happens,  I  do  not  return 
to  Fostat  until  the  afternoon.  Then  I  am  almost  dying  with 
hunger.  I  find  the  ante-chamber  filled  with  people,  both  Jews 


Moses  Maimomdes  113 

and  Gentiles,  nobles  and  common  people,  judges  and  bailiffs, 
friends  and  foes — a  mixed  mwltitude,  who  await  the  time  of 
my  return. 

"I  dismount  from  my  animal,  wash  my  hands,  go  forth  to 
my  patients,  and  entreat  them  to  bear  with  me  while  I  par- 
take of  some  slight  refreshment,  the  only  meal  I  take  in  the 
twenty-four  hours.  Then  I  attend  to  my  patients,  write 
prescriptions  and  directions  for  their  various  ailments.  Pa- 
tients go  in  and  out  until  nightfall,  and  sometimes  even,  I 
solemnly  assure  you,  until  two  hours  and  more  in  the  night. 
I  converse  with  them  and  prescribe  for  them  while  lying 
down  from  sheer  fatigue;  and  when  night  falls  I  am  so 
exhausted  that  I  can  scarcely  speak. 

"In  consequence  of  this,  no  Israelite  can  have  any  private 
interview  with  me,  except  on  the  Sabbath.  On  that  day, 
the  whole  congregation,  or,  at  least,  the  majority  of  the 
members,  come  to  me  after  the  morning  service,  when  I 
instruct  them  as  to  their  proceedings  during  the  whole  week. 
We  study  together  a  little  until  noon,  when  they  depart. 
Some  of  them  return  and  read  with  me  after  the  afternoon 
service  until  evening  prayers.  In  this  manner  I  spend  that 
day.  I  have  here  related  to  you  only  a  part  of  what  you 
•yould  see  if  you  were  to  visit  me." 

Arduous  as  were  his  duties  as  physician,  hns  wonderful 

industry  enabled  him,  as   may  be  seen   from   his   letter,   to 

take  a  leading  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Jewish 

Leader    of  .  ,°_    . 

his  People.  community  of  Cairo,  and  also  to  answer  hundreds 
of  questions  addressed  to  him  from  all  parts  of 
the  world.  For  by  this  time  the  fame  of  his  learning  and 
his  piety  was  in  every  land.  He  tells  us  that  he  never  failed 
to  reply  to  any  of  these  letters,  except  when  he  was  too  ill 
to  write,  and  that  he  always  answered  with  his  own  hand, 
never  using  a  secretary,  lest  he  be  suspected  of  arrogance. 
Recent  discoveries  in  Cairo  have  brought  to  light  many 
questions  addressed  to  Moses  ben  Maimon  (whom,  by  the 


114  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

way,  we  may  now  call  by  the  better-known  name  given  to 
him — Maimonides)  with  his  autograph  answers  attached. 
These  replies  were  always  clear  and  concise,  and  showed 
Maimonides'  sympathy  and  good  sense,  and  even  a  touch  of 
humor. 

The  Jews  of  Arabia,  for  example,  cruelly  persecuted  by 
the  intolerant  Mohammedans  of  that  country,  and  pitifully 
An  Example  Perplexed  because  of  their  vague  religious  knowl- 
of  his  edge,  wrote  to  him  for  advice.  A  man,  they  told 

Responsa.        j^^  j^  arjsen  who  deciare(i  himself  the  Messiah. 

Maimonides'  reply  is  famous.  He  appealed  to  their  faith  to 
keep  them  patient  and  long-suffering  through  trials  that 
he  urged  them  to  accept  as  the  tests  of  Providence. 

But  in  spite  of  all  these  activities,  which  might  well 
have  filled  all  the  waking  hours  of  a  man  of  less  energy  and 
The  Most  capacity,  Maimonides  gave  his  best  endeavor  and 
Famous  Man  ^e  precious  leisure  of  his  busy  life  to  writings 

of   Letters  ...  *      ,    .  .  . 

of  Spanish  on  matters  of  importance  to  Judaism,  writings 
Judaism.  which  make  his  fame  overshadow  that  of  all  the 
other  philosophers  and  the  grammarians  and  the  poets  of 
Spanish  Judaism,  writings  which  make  him  the  greatest  of 
the  great  men  of  his  time. 

With  his  clear  and  logical  mind,  he  realized  early  in  life 

that  the  ordinary  Israelite  could  not  be  expected  to  give  to 

the  study  of  the  Law  the  time  necessary  for  its 

His    Com-  •  * 

mentary  on  complete  understanding.  The  Mishnah  was  ob- 
the  Mishnah.  scure  f^e  discussions  of  its  precepts  often 
made  it  even  more  difficult  for  the  man  of  little  scholarship 
to  get  the  gist  and  application  of  the  rulings.  How  then 
was  the  man  of  the  people  to  follow  the  guidance  of  the 
Law  in  every  detail  of  his  daily  life?  To  meet  this  very 
practical  need,  Maimonides  wrote  his  first  important  work, 
his  commentary  on  the  Mishnah.  He  wrote  it  in  Arabic,  for 
that  was  the  native  tongue  of  the  Eastern  Jew.  He  omitted 
all  subtle,  detailed  discussions  of  views  that  were  no  longer 


Moses  Maimomdes  115 

applicable  to  the  actual  life  of  the  Jew.  He  explained  cor- 
rectly and  clearly  passages  that  had  puzzled  even  the 
Gaonim,  applying  to  his  interpretation  of  the  language  of  the 
Mishnah  those  rules  of  Hebrew  grammar  that  Spanish  schol- 
arship had  contributed  to  Jewish  learning.  He  often  ex- 
plained a  point  by  referring  to  the  principles  of  such  sci- 
ences as  mathematics  and  physics.  In  addition  to  quoting 
the  interpretations  which  he  found  in  the  Talmud  itself,  he 
used  the  works  of  all  his  learned  predecessors,  and  even 
bravely  and  independently  used  his  own  judgment  when  he 
could  find  no  authority  to  help  him.  Nor  was  his  com- 
mentary a  mere  series  of  scattered  notes.  He  provided 
prefaces  for  several  treatises  of  the  Mishnah,  and  he  wrote 
for  the  entire  commentary  a  general  introduction  in  which 
he  discussed  the  origin  and  plan  of  the  Mishnah,  and  gave 
an  account  of  the  development  of  the  oral  law. 

Nor  did  he  limit  himself  to  an  explanation  of  the  Mish- 
nah and  a  statement  of  the  authoritative  decision  in  each 
Hb  case ;  on  the  contrary,  he  seized  every  opportunity 

Correction  of  to  expose  abuses  and  to  correct  superstitions  and 

Superstitions.    errQrs         Thug     he     reproached     those     who     WOre 

charms  and  amulets. 

In  one  of  his  most  famous  comments  he  tried  to  state 

the  principles  upon  which  the  Jewish  religion  rests,  giving 

them   in   Thirteen   Articles   of   Faith.     This   was 

His 

Thirteen  the  first  time  that  any  philosopher  had  undertaken 
^e  statement  °f  a  Jewish  system  of  belief.  Per- 
haps Maimonides  felt  it  necessary  to  define  Juda- 
ism in  order  to  show  the  difference  between  Judaism  on 
the  one  hand  and  Christianity  and  Mohammedanism  on  the 
other.  This  creed,  then,  could  be  used  in  the  synagogue 
whenever  it  was  found  necessary  to  differentiate  the  Jewish 
religion  from  other  religions.  Certainly  the  articles  are  so 
worded  as  to  emphasize  the  distinction  between  Judaism  and 
the  two  daughter  religions.  Later  philosophers  formulated 


116  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

the  fundamental  principles  of  our  faith  somewhat  differently. 
Not  exactness  of  creed,  however,  but  perfection  of  life  is 
the  essence  of  Judaism.  And  although  it  would  seem  that 
Maimonides  set  up  with  his  creed  a  rigid  system  which 
would  dominate  the  beliefs  and  opinions  of  men,  in  reality  he 
did  no  such  thing.  His  creed  did  not  fetter  Jewish  thought; 
and  Jewish  emphasis  remained  on  religious  and  moral  con- 
duct, and  not  on  any  confession  of  faith.  His  creed  was 
accepted  as  the  official  statement  of  the  belief  of  the  Syna- 
gogue, and  it  is  incorporated  in  the  Jewish  ritual  in  prose  and 
in  verse.  In  it  he  declares  Jewish  belief  in  (1)  the  existence 
of  a  Creator;  (2)  in  His  unity  (as  against  the  Trinity  of 
the  Christian  faith)  ;  (3)  in  His  spirituality  (as  against  any 
attempt  to  embody  Him  in  a  man)  ;  (4)  in  His  eternity ; 
(5)  in  His  absolute  claim  to  our  worship  (again  in  contra- 
distinction to  Christianity);  (6)  in  prophecy;  (7)  in  the 
supremacy  of  the  prophet  Moses  (a  challenge  to  Moham- 
med's claim)  ;  (8  and  9)  in  the  permanence  and  unalterability 
of  the  Law  revealed  to  Moses  at  Sinai  (an  answer  to  the 
Christian  assertion  that  the  New  Testament  superseded  the 
Jewish  Scriptures) ;  (10)  in  God's  omniscience — that  He 
knows  all.  and  (11)  that  He  rewards  and  punishes  justly; 

(12)  in  the  coming  of  a  Messiah    (again  differing  sharply 
from  the  Christian  belief  that  he  had  already  come)  ;  and 

(13)  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  a  statement  of  belief 
that  has  been  variously  interpreted,  and  that  we  accept  to-day 
as  an  assertion  of  confidence  in  immortality. 

The  compilation  of  the  Mishnah  commentary  led  Maimon- 
ides to  begin  a  second  great  work.  Now  that  the  Law  had 
HU  been  interpreted,  it  was  still  necessary  to  bring 

-Mishneh  order  and  system  into  it  by  arranging  it  accord- 
Torah."  ing.  to  subject  matter.  The  laws  in  Bible,  Tal- 
mud, and  later  Jewish  literature  are  not  systematically  ar- 
ranged. A  command  concerning  divine  worship  may  stand 
beside  an  injunction  of  criminal  law,  and  a  rule  of  hygiene, 


Moses  Maimonides  117 

perhaps,  next  to  that.  Speedy  reference,  therefore,  to  any 
law  was  impossible  for  the  average  man,  and  difficult  even 
for  the  scholar.  Maimonides  himself,  he  tells  us,  was  some- 
times at  a  loss  to  decide  quickly  and  definitely  just  where  a 
given  law  might  be  found.  In  his  "Mishneh  Torah"  or 
"Repetition  of  the  Law"  therefore,  he  collected  into  one 
work  all  the  laws  to  be  found  in  the  Bible  and  the  Talmud, 
in  the  Responsa  of  the  Gaonim,  and  in  the  writings  of  Pal- 
estinian, Spanish,  and  French  teachers ;  and  these  laws,  ex- 
pressed simply  and  briefly,  he  arranged  according  to  their 
content.  In  one  book,  for  example,  he  gave  all  the  laws 
connected  with  agriculture;  in  another  he  gave  the  entire 
code  of  the  criminal  law ;  in  still  another,  civil  law ;  and  so 
on.  His  work  forms  the  first  complete  classification  of  Jew- 
ish law  from  all  sources. 

But  the  "Mishneh  Torah"  is  even  more  than  a  clear, 
practical,  systematic  legal  code.  Its  grasp  of  the  general 
principles  of  justice  and  humanity  underlying  the 
Spirituality  almost  innumerable  details  of  the  law,  its  em- 
phasis on  the  spirituality  of  Judaism,  its  un- 
wearying reference  back  to  the  starting  point — God's  justice 
and  mercy  and  man's  duty  to  act  always  with  the  love  of 
God  as  his  sole  motive  and  his  only  reward, — these  are  the 
noble  qualities  which  make  one  writer  say  of  it:  "The 
marvel  of  the  book  is  that  this  golden  thread  of  the  spirit 
runs  unbroken  through  all  the  ritual  details  with  which  the 
Code  abounds." 

The    fame    of    the    "Mishneh    Torah"    spread    rapidly. 

Hundreds  of  scribes  were  soon  copying  it ;  urgent  demands 

for  it   came    from   every   land.      Many    hailed   it 

'  with   welcome,    declaring  that   no   one    had    done 

such  service  to  the  Law  since  the  days  of  Rabbi  Judah  the 

Prince,  the  compiler  of  the  Mishnah.     They  called  it  "Yad 

Hachazakah",  "The   Strong  Hand."     This   praise,   however, 

was  by  no  means  unanimous.    There  was  much  opposition  to 

the  "Mishneh  Torah",  both  during  Maimonides'  lifetime  and 

after.     Some   feared  that  his  simple,  classified  reproduction 


Illuminated  page  from  the 

"Yad  Hachazaka" 

of  Moses  Maimonides. 

(15th  century.) 


*<  2£z^ttz*3umi 


Moses  Maimonides  119 

of  the  Talmud  would  lessen  the  study  of  the  Talmud  in  the 
original.  Others  feared  that  Maimonides  would  become  the 
autocrat  of  Jewish  life,  and  that  through  his  Code  the  tra- 
ditional laws  would  become  rigid,  unyielding,  inflexible.  But 
no  such  disastrous  result  followed,  for  most  people  steered 
a  sane  middle  course  between  those  who  praised  over-much 
and  those  who  blamed.  These  did  not  accept  Maimonides' 
decisions  as  absolutely  final  and  not  subject  to  modification, 
but  "cheerfully  saw  in  him  a  new  guide  to  set  beside  the 
old,  a  fresh  aid  to  the  study  of  the  old  lore  with  which  their 
life  was  wrapped  up."  Through  this  work  he  became  the 
chief  authority  of  the  Jewish  world. 

Now  that  he  had  explained  the  Mishnah  clearly  and 
had  codified  all  Biblical  and  rabbinical  laws,  he  turned  his 
His  "Guide  attention  to  those  perplexed  men  who  were  puz- 
of  the  zled  by  the  questions  which  the  thinking  mind 

asks  anew  in  each  generation — questions  about 
God  and  destiny,  about  the  duty  of  man,  about  religion  and 
philosophy.  The  object  of  this  third  great  work,  the  "Guide 
of  the  Perplexed",  or  "Moreh  Nebuchim" — to  call  it  by  its 
Hebrew  title — was,  as  Maimonides  himself  explained,  to 
"guide  those  religious  persons  who,  adhering  to  the  Torah, 
have  studied  philosophy,  and  are  embarrassed  by  the  contra- 
diction between  the  teachings  of  philosophy  and  the  literal 
sense  of  the  Torah."  It  was  the  same  task  that  Philo  had 
set  himself  long  before  in  Alexandria,  and  Saadia  in  Baby- 
lonia. The  Jewish-Greek  philosopher  had  tried  to  reconcile 
Judaism  with  the  teachings  of  Plato  and  his  followers,  the 
prevailing  philosophy  of  his  day;  the  Jewish-Arabic  scholar, 
with  the  Aristotelian  and  Moslem  thought  of  his  time;  and 
now  Maimonides  tried  to  harmonize  Judaism  with  the  phil- 
osophy of  Aristotle  as  it  was  taught  by  the  Mohammedans 
of  his  time.  Maimonides,  however,  was  no  blind  follower 
of  Aristotle,  but,  ort  the  contrary,  showed  an  independence 


120  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

of  thought  rare  in  his  age,  when  all  other  scholars  slavishly 
accepted  the  conclusions  of  the  great  Greek  thinker. 

In  the  "Moreh  Nebuchim"  Maimonides  accepted  philos- 
ophy as  an  aid  in  the  search  for  the  truth.  For  him,  reason 

and  faith  led  to  the  same  result.  To  his  mind, 
an  Aid  in  there  could  be  no  contradiction  between  the  truths 
the  Search  which  God  has  revealed  to  His  prophets  and  the 
Truth.  truths  which  the  human  intellect,  a  power  derived 

from  God,  has  discovered  by  process  of  reason. 
With  few  exceptions,  he  saw  nothing  in  the  philosophy  of 
his  day  that  he  could  not  find,  differently  expressed,  in  the 
Bible  and  the  Talmud.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  he  saw 
nothing  in  the  Bible  nor  in  the  whole  range  of  rabbinical 
literature  that,  if  properly  explained,  contradicted  the  find- 
ings of  philosophy.  Religion  and  the  philosophy  of  his  day, 

he  pointed  out,  both  recognize  the  existence  of  a  Creator; 
both  seek  to  guide  mankind  to  the  highest  good.  God  is 
the  Creator,  a  perfect  Unity.  He  is  incorporeal;  and  when 
He  is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible  as  having  eyes  or  hands,  these 
phrases  are  to  be  interpreted  allegorically  or  figuratively,  as 
concrete  ways  of  expressing  the  abstract  ideas  of  God's  om- 
niscience and  His  power.  The  object  of  all  Biblical  precepts 
is  morality;  the  value  of  the  sacrificial  laws,  for  example, 
lies  solely  in  the  prayers  and  devotion  which  accompany 
them,  the  sacrifices  themselves  being  merely  temporary  con- 
cessions to  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  people  who  lived 
at  the  time  when  these  laws  were  made. 

Concerning  prophecy,  Maimonides  taught  that  God  does 
not  arbitrarily  choose  a  man  to  be  His  prophet.  The  man 
His  Teaching  must  first  prepare  himself  intellectually  and  mor- 
Concerning  ally,  so  that  by  his  love  of  truth  and  by  the  purity 

Prophecy.  Q£    hjs    j.fe    he    makeg    hjmself    worthy    tO    be    God's 

messenger.  Then  God  selects  him  to  bear  His  message. 
This  teaching  is  anticipated  in  the  Bible,  where  we  read, 
"And  Moses  said,  'I  will  now  turn  aside  to  see  this  great 


Moses  Maimonides  121 

sight,  why  the  bush  is  not  burnt.'  And  when  the  Lord  saw 
that  he  turned  aside  to  see,  God  called  to  him  from  the 
midst  of  the  bush."  It  was  not  until  Moses  had  taken  the 
first  step  that  God  called  to  him.  Man  prepares,  and  then 
God  chooses  him. 

Thus  Maimonides  went  on,  bringing  the  philosophy  of 
the  twelfth  century  into  harmony  with  the  principles  of 
The  influence  Judaism,  and  presenting  the  laws  of  Judaism  as 
"Guide"  rational,  logical,  and  uplifting.  Through  the 
upon  the  "Moreh  Nebuchim"  many  a  doubter  was  convinced 
Jewm-  that  the  teachings  of  Judaism  could  stand  the 

criticism  of  the  philosophers.  Maimonides'  "Guide"  was  a 
true  guide  to  the  perplexed  of  his  day,  and  although  systems 
of  philosophy  have  come  and  gone  since,  it  remains  in  many 
respects  a  guide  through  the  perplexities  and  problems  of 
every  age.  For  Maimonides  had  a  mind  which,  although  it 
was  necessarily  influenced  by  the  modes  of  thinking  of  his 
day,  was  not  bound  down  by  the  limitations  of  any  one 
period;  it  responded  to  the  intellectual  necessities  of  all  ages. 

Nor  was  it  only  among  the  Jews  that  the  "Moreh  Nebu- 
chim" was  received  with  admiration;  so  great  a  thinker  was 
its  influence  Maimonides  that  his  work  had  an  influence  on 
upon  European  thought  much  more  powerful  than  is 

tnd  usually  acknowledged.  Mohammedan  scholars 

Christian  wrote  commentaries  on  it;  Mohammedan  teachers 
Thought.  lectured  on  it  to  their  students.  From  its  orig- 
inal Arabic  it  was  translated  into  Hebrew  and  then  into 
Latin,  and  in  this  form,  like  Ibn  Gabirol's  "Fons  Vitae", 
it  largely  influenced  Christian  thought.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
the  greatest  of  the  mediaeval  theologians  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  used  it  as  a  model  for  his  own  work.  Christian 
scholars  owned  their  indebtedness  to  Maimonides  and  al- 
most accepted  him  as  one  of  the  authorities  of  the  church. 

Such  a  book  as  the  "Moreh  Nebuchim",  however,  could 
not  go  unchallenged.  In  every  age  there  are  always  two 


122  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Maimonists  attitudes  of  mind, — a  progressive  and  a  conserva- 
and  Ami-  tive  \  and  the  conservative  Jews,  looking  with 
Maimomsts.  SUSpicjon  Up0n  philosophy,  assailed  Maimonides' 
views.  To  them  he  seemed  to  be  advocating  opinions  which 
did  not  agree  with  the  teachings  of  Jewish  tradition.  His 
errors,  therefore,  they  felt  they  must  strenuously  oppose  and 
condemn.  The  progressive  element,  on  the  other  hand,  ac- 
cepted Maimonides  as  teacher  and  master.  Thus  two  hostile 
parties  arose,  the  Maimonists,  or  followers  of  Maimonides, 
and  the  anti-Maimonists,  his  opponents. 

Such  mutual  discussion  is  often  stimulating  and  helpful, 
but  this  controversy  raged  too  bitterly  for  scholarly  inter- 
change of  opinion.  Some  of  Maimonides'  opponents  went  so 
far  as  to  forbid  the  study  of  his  book,  and  to  call  its  author 
a  heretic.  At  last,  indeed,  misguided  zealots  referred  the 
dispute  to  Christian  authorities  for  settlement,  and  these  or- 
dered that  Maimonides'  works  be  burned.  The  very  violence 
of  the  conflict,  however,  recalled  the  hostile  parties  to  a 
saner,  calmer  view.  Gradually  the  strenuous  opposition  faded 
away.  The  "Moreh  Nebuchim"  came  to  be  accepted  by  the 
conservative,  as  well  as  by  the  progressive.  It  remained  the 
"Guide"  for  the  enlightened  of  all  centuries,  and  its  study 
produced  philosophers  like  Spinoza  and  Moses  Mendelssohn. 
In  spite  of  the  bitter  attacks  of  his  opponents,  Maimonides 
went  quietly  on  with  his  laborious  life.  He  never  grew 

angry  at  sincere  opposition;  he  acted  always  with 
intellectual  dignified  self-restraint  and  large-minded  patience, 
of  the  Great  jn  fac^  as  much  might  be  said  of  his  character 

as  of  his  unusual  knowledge  and  masterly  intel- 
lect. Like  Hiliel,  he  was  modest  and  gentle,  and  kept  an 
even  temper,  as  we  have  seen,  even  in  disputes.  He  was 
broad-minded;  he  believed,  in  that  age  of  intolerance  and 
persecution,  that  the  good  of  all  creeds  and  all  nations  have 
a  share  in  the  life  to  come.  He  was  profoundly  earnest; 
he  regarded  life,  not  as  an  opportunity  for  pleasure,  but  as 


Moses  Maimonides  123 

a  serious  opportunity  to  labor  nobly.  Every  moment  must 
be  spent  profitably.  Maimonides  never  relaxed  even  so  far 
as  to  enjoy  poetry.  It  is,  therefore,  chiefly  as  the  most  in- 
tellectual of  the  great  rabbis,  as  the  most  deeply  philosophical 
of  the  religious  thinkers  that  he  is  remembered.  Emotion  he 
lacked — the  passion  and  the  tenderness  that  won  for  Judah 
Halevi  not  only  admiration  and  reverence,  but  also  personal 
affection  and  enthusiastic  devotion.  But  penetration  that  cut 
through  every  obscurity ;  a  genius  for  classification  that  could 
bring  system  into  any  material,  however  scattered  and  con- 
fused it  may  have  been;  unwearying  industry  that  found  no 
labor  too  difficult  or  too  prolonged, — all  these  he  had,  and 
a  characteristically  Jewish  spirit  that  found  expression  in 
the  fundamental  principle  of  his  life:  "Know  the  God  of 
thy  father  and  serve  Him."  These  qualities  made  men  say 
of  him,  "From  Moses  to  Moses  there  has  been  none  like 
Moses."  From  Moses  the  great  Law-giver  to  Moses  Maimon- 
ides no  one  had  appeared  to  equal  these  great  leaders. 

Moses  Maimonides  died  in  1204,  mourned  by  both  Jews 
and  Mohammedans.  He  had  accomplished  great  things. 
Commentator,  No  Jewish  commentator  or  philosopher  exercises 
Codifier,  and  a  more  many-sided  or  lasting  influence ;  he  made 
clear  and  orderly  the  confused  masses  of  the 
Law  so  that  by  his  commentary  and  by  his  code  the  Jew 
might  know  how  to  govern  his  life  according  to  the  wisdom 
of  many  generations ;  he  brought  together  the  truths  of 
religion  and  philosophy  so  that  through  his  "Guide"  many 
a  Jewish  intellect  was  taught  to  think  in  a  spirit  of  reverent 
inquiry.  It  may  help  one  to  remember  his  three-fold  service 
to  his  race  and  to  humanity,  if  one  connects  with  the  name 
of  Moses  Maimonides  three  titles,  each  beginning  with  the 
letter  C,  and  thinks  of  him  as  the  great  Commentator,  the 
great  Codifier,  the  great  Conciliator. 

After  the  time  of  Maimonides,  Arabic  ceased  to  be  the 
language  of  Jewish  thought,  and  in  ord«r  that  the  works  of 


124  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Maimonides   and,   indeed,   all  the  Jewish  classics 

The   Tibbon  .  ....  ./,  ,         T 

Family.  written  in  Arabic  might  be  accessible  to  the  Jews 

of  Europe,  it  was  necessary  to  translate  them  into 

Hebrew.     This   need  brought   forth   a   host   of   translators. 

Of   these  the  most   famous   were  the   Tibbon    family.     As 

early  as  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century,  Judah  ibn 

Tibbon  was  performing  the  task  of  translating  into  Hebrew 

the  works  of  Bachya,  ibn  Gabirol,  and  Halevi.     Maimonides 

speaks  very  flatteringly  of  Judah  in  a  letter  to  Judah's  son, 

and  this  son  justly  calls  Judah  "the  father  of  translators." 

The  title,  "chief  of  translators",  has  also  been  applied  to  him. 

His  greater  son,  Samuel  ibn  Tibbon,  who  was  born  about 

1150  and  died  about  1230,  was  an  enthusiastic  follower  of 

Maimonides.     He  translated  many  of  the  works 

Samuel  ibn  . 

Tibbon.  of  Maimonides,  including  the  "Guide  of  the  Per- 
plexed", to  which  he  owes  his  greatest  fame. 
Indeed,  this  work  is  usually  referred  to  by  the  Hebrew  title 
which  Samuel  ibn  Tibbon  gave  it,  "Moreh  Nebuchim."  His 
translation  is  distinguished  for  its  faithfulness  to  the  original. 
Nor  were  the  members  of  the  Tibbon  family  translators 
alone.  Some  of  them  wrote  original  works  besides.  Judah 
wrote  a  work  on  rhetoric  and  grammar  and  left  a  will  which 
gives  us  an  interesting  insight  into  his  character.  In  it  he 
refers  to  his  library  as  his  "best  treasure",  his  "best  com- 
panion", and  to  his  book-shelves  as  "the  most  beautiful 
pleasure-gardens."  Samuel  wrote  a  philosophical  commen- 
tary, in  the  manner  of  Maimonides,  on  Ecclesiastes  and  on 
the  Song  of  Songs.  His  greatest  work,  however,  is  his 
translation  of  the  "Guide  of  the  Perplexed."  As  a  result 
of  the  work  of  these  translators,  the  books  of  those  Jews 
who  wrote  in  Arabic,  instead  of  being  confined  to  lands  of 
Mohammedan  culture,  became  accessible  to  all  who  read 
Hebrew. 


Moses  Maimonides  125 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Abrahams,  I.:    Jewish  Life  in  Middle  Ages  (index). 
Friedlaender,  Israel:     Past  and  Present,  Chs.  X,  XI,  XII. 
Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  VI,  Chs.  10,  11. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  VoL  III,  pp.  446-93,  522-45,  623-34. 
Husik,  I.:    History  of  Mediaeval  Jewish  Philosophy,  pp.  236-311. 
Jewish   Encyclopedia:     VoL   IX,  p.   73,   Article  Moses   b.   Maimon. 
Karpeles :    Jewish  Literature  and  Other  Essays,  p.  145  ff. 
Schindler,  S. :     Dissolving  Views,  pp.  122-135. 
Yellin  and  Abrahams:     Maimonides. 


XIV. 
NACHMANIDES. 

In  the  struggle  that  raged  about  Maimonides  there  was 

no  more  commanding  figure  than  Moses  ben  Nachman,  or 

Nachmanides,    as    he    is    commonly    called.      He 

Early  Life.  ,  J 

was  born  about  the  year  1195  in  a  little  town 
in  northern  Spain.  He  belonged  to  the  best  Jewish  families 
of  the  community,  and  he  is  said  to  have  studied  under  the 
greatest  teachers  of  his  time.  Like  so  many  Spanish  Jews, 
he  applied  himself  to  medicine  and  later  practised  it  as  a 
means  of  livelihood.  He  acquired  also  a  knowledge  of  phil- 
osophical literature.  But  his  chief  field  of  labor  was  the 
Talmud,  which  was  all  in  all  to  him.  For  his  birthplace, 
although  in  Spain,  was  distinguished,  not  for  its  philosophers, 
like  the  great  southern  cities  of  Granada,  Barcelona,  and 
Toledo,  but  rather,  like  neighboring  France,  for  the  great 
Talmudists  that  it  produced.  The  boy  grew  up,  therefore, 
under  the  influence,  not  of  Spanish  philosophy,  but  of  French 
scholarship,  and  his  natural  piety  made  him  particularly 
sympathetic  to  it. 

His  distinguished  kinsmen  and  masters  must  have  been 
well  satisfied  with  the  lad's  progress,  for  when  he  was  only 

fifteen  years  old  he  began  to  write  treatises  on 
Knowledge  Talmudical  subjects,  in  which  he  showed  so  re- 
of  the  markable  an  intimacy  with  the  Talmud  that  even 

while  he  was  still  very  young  he  was  counted 
among  the  Talmudical  authorities  of  his  time.  These  studies 

126 


Nachtnanides  127 

in  the  Talmud  he  continued  through  all  the  earlier  part  of 
his  life.  He  wrote  explanations  of  the  Talmud  in  the  style 
of  the  French  rabbis;  summaries  of  certain  parts  of  the 
Law,  much  in  the  manner  of  Maimonides;  and  loyal  de- 
fences of  earlier  authorities  against  the  criticism  of  a  later 
generation.  In  these  works  he  shows  qualities  that  distin- 
guish all  his  writings,  not  only  a  profound  knowledge  of 
rabbinical  literature,  but  also  the  deepest  veneration  for 
earlier  authorities.  In  his  eyes  the  only  course  of  wisdom 
for  the  scholars  of  his  day  was  to  study  reverently  the  liter- 
ature of  their  great  ancestors.  Not  only  to  the  Bible  and 
the  Talmud  did  he  turn  for  instruction  and  guidance,  but 
also  to  the  Gaonim  and  even  the  rabbis  of  still  later  genera- 
tions; and  in  their  light  he  regarded  all  the  problems  of  life. 

All  this  represents  a  very  different  attitude  towards  life 
and  religion  from  that  shown  by  Maimonides.  Maimonides 
Hi»  Attitude  aPP^ed  to  religion  the  standards  of  the  philosophy 
towards  the  of  his  time,  interpreting  Judaism  in  the  clear, 
cold  light  of  reason  and  logic.  For  Nachmanides, 
on  the  other  hand,  religion  was  radiant  with  a  warm  glow 
of  feeling.  The  tendency  to  eliminate  from  religion  all  that 
is  mystical,  all  that  makes  an  appeal  to  loving,  reverent, 
unquestioning  faith  rather  than  to  analytical  intelligence 
grieved  him.  The  "Moreh  Nebuchim"  had  encouraged  the 
followers  of  the  Greek-Arabic  philosophy  among  the  Jews 
to  understand  as  allegorical  all  the  stories  in  the  Bible  that 
had  in  them  an  element  of  the  miraculous.  But  to  Nach- 
manides the  mystical  and  the  miraculous  were  the  holiest 
and  most  beautiful  parts  of  religion. 

Nor  was  he  more  in  sympathy  with  the  ethical  philosophy 

of  Maimonides  than  with  his  religious  views.     Maimonides 

sought  to  raise  man  above  the  accidents  of   for- 

Hta   Warm  ,  .  .  .    .  . 

Humanity.       tune  by   reminding  him   of   his   high   origin  ana 
his  future  destiny.     To  arm  him  against  the  dis- 
appointments and  sorrows  of  life,  the  philosopher  tried  to 


128  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

render  man  indifferent  to  pleasure  and  to  pain.  This  aloof- 
ness Nachmanides  rejected.  He  opposed  to  it  the  more 
warmly  human  doctrine  that  "man  should  rejoice  on  the  day 
of  joy,  and  weep  on  the  day  of  sorrow." 

But  much  as  Nachmanides  disapproved  Maimonides' 
views,  his  character  was  too  gentle  and  his  respect  for  the 
His  Place  Jewish  philosopher  too  profound  to  permit  him  to 
in/116  join  the  violent  opponents  of  the  great  man. 

about  Rather  he  attempted  to  act  as  a  peace-maker  and 

Maimonides.  to  bring  together  the  warring  factions.  In  a 
letter  to  the  rabbis  of  France  he  drew  attention  to  the  many 
virtues  and  the  great  merits  of  Maimonides  and  pointed  out 
that  the  "Guide"  was  intended,  not  for  those  whose  hearts 
were  happy  in  perfect  faith  and  unshaken  belief,  but  for 
those  bewildered  by  a  newly  won  philosophy  that  they  could 
not  without  help  reconcile  with  the  old,  familiar  teachings. 

Although  Nachmanides  looked  with  disfavor  upon  the 
philosophy  of  his  day,  he  did  not,  however,  encourage  blind, 
Hig  unreasoning  belief.  "Notwithstanding  my  desire 

independence  to  follow  the  earlier  authorities,"  he  said,  "to 
1  '  assert  and  maintain  their  views,  I  do  not  con- 
sider myself  a  'donkey  carrying  books.'  I  will  explain  their 
methods  and  appreciate  their  value,  but  when  their  views 
can  not  be  supported  by  me,  I  will  plead,  though  in  all  mod- 
esty, my  right  to  judge  according  to  the  light  of  my  eyes." 

If.  however.  Nachmanides  saw  the  necessity  of  explain- 
ing  earlier  authorities,  and  if,  in  explaining  them,  he  would 
Nachmanides  *lot  have  t-ffrmr.«^j:o  the  philosophyof  Maimon- 
and  the  ides,  where  was  he  to  find  the  method  whereby 
He  must  interpret  ?  H"  g""gh<-  it  <n  a  mystical 
theory,  known. as  fobalq  nj-  TrHitJTi,  by  w1lirll  the  state- 
ments of  sacred  literature  were  invested  with  a  deep,  mys- 
terious meaning — a  method  of  reading  hloly  Writ  by  read1" 
ing  into  if  nil  thp  fanciesr  the  dreams,  and^JllF  pac^'mra  of 
the  hiim^n  h^art.  Because  of  this  miraculous,  mvstic.  emo- 


Nachmanides  129 


tinnal  element  fhp  fahal^  attracted  Nachmanides—  And  so 
we  have  the  apparent  contradiction  of  a  scholar  whose  clear 
mind  could  pierce  every  obscurity  of  the  JTalmud,  but  whose 
warm  heart  found  jnspiraiion  ia—  the  mystic  lore  of  the 
Cabala.  The  fact  that  so  devout  a  sage,  so  subtle  and  keen- 
witted a  thinker  was  a  believer  in  the  Cabala,  gave  great 
weight  to  this  mode  of  interpreting  the  Bible  and  won  it 
many  followers.  Accordingly  we  have  still  another  point 
of  view  added  to  those  from  which  devout  men  were  at- 
tempting, in  very  different  ways,  to  understand  and  apply 
their  religion.  In  France  were  the  strict  Talmudists,  who 
occupied  themselves  almost  entirely  with  the  study  of  the 
Halachah.  In  Spain  were  the  philosophers,  who,  following 
Maimonides,  strove  to  interpret  Judaism  in  accordance  with 
the  prevailing  thought  of  the  day.  And  now,  encour- 
aged by  the  great  authority  of  Nachmanfdtis'.  'We1  have"  still 

anntTTer  afH'tii^  fpXyards  religion,  that  flf  th«»  rahaljstSj  who 
saw  their  Judaism  through  the  twilight  nf  mysticism. 

The  later  writings  of  Nachmanides  reveal,  more  clearly 

than    his    early    Talmudical    studies,    his    particular    attitude 

towards  the  problems  of  religion,  and  give  us  an 

Commentary    insight  into  his  system  of  explaining  them.     The 

on  the  greatest  of  all  his  works,  the  one  into  which  he 

Pentateuch.  .  .. 

put  his  finest  thoughts  and  his  noblest  feelings, 
is  his  Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch.  Its  purpose,  he  said, 
was  "to  appease  the  mind  of  the  students,  laboring  under 
persecution  and  troubles,  when  they  read  the  portion  on 
Sabbaths  and  festivals,  and  to  attract  their  heart  by  simple 
explanations  and  sweet  words."  The  "simple  explanations" 
occupy  a  considerable  space  in  the  book,  and  Nachmanides 
spared  no  pains-  to  basethem__pn  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
all  that  his  age  knew  of  philology  and  archaeology.  The 
"sweet  words",  however,  are  the  most  prominent  and  char- 
acteristic feature  of  his  CommentaryTcSweet  and  comfort- 
ing indeed  to  his  contemporaries  must  have  been  such  words 


130  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

as  we  read  at  the  end  of  the  "Song  of  Moses"  (Deuteronomy 
xxxii)  :  "And  behold  there  is  nothing  conditional  in  this 
song.  It  is  a  charter  testifying  that  we  shall  have  to  suffer 
heavily  for  our  sins,  but  that,  nevertheless,  God  will  not 
destroy  us,  being  reconciled  to  us,  though  we  shall  have  no 
merits,  and  forgiving  our  sins  for  His  name's  sake  alone. 
.  .  .  And  so  our  rabbis  said,  'Great  is  this  song,  embrac- 
ing as  it  does  both  the  past  of  Israel  and  the  future,  this 
world  and  the  world  to  come.' " 

Nachmanides  found  in  the  Torah  various  meanings.  He 
maintained  that  all  knowledge  and  wisdom  are  "the  fruits  of 
"The  Fruits  ^e  T°ran>  or  the  fruits  of  these  fruits."  "For  every 
of  the  glory  and  every  wonder  and  every  deep  mystery 

Torah.  are  ^j^^gjj  jn  t^e  forah,  and  in  her  treasures  is 

sealed  every  beauty  of  wisdom."  Not  only  moral  lessons, 
but  also  cabalistic  and  symbolical  meanings  he  drew  from 
its  narratives.  In  the  Torah  he  saw  a  foreshadowing  of  the 
history  of  humanity.  The  account  of  the  six  days  of  crea- 
tion, for  example,  he  interpreted  as  a  prophecy  of  the  most 
important  events  that  would  occur  during  the  succeeding  six 
thousand  years;  and  the  Sabbath  was  to  him  a  promise  of 
the  millenium  in  the  seventh  thousand,  which  will  be  the  day 
of  the  Lord. 

Miracles  he  raised  to  a  place  in  the  regular  scheme  of 

things.     The  Ten  Plagues  in  Egypt  and  the  crossing  of  the 

Red  Sea  are  one  kind  of  miracles,  manifest  mira- 

1 1  IS    AttltUGC 

Towards  cles.  In  addition  to  these  there  are  hidden  mira- 
Miracies.  cjeg  Wnjcj1  we  £Q  not  perceive  as  such  because 

of  their  frequency.  All  of  the  events  of  our  daily  life  are 
miracles  worked  by  the  direct  will  of  God.  This  unbroken 
chain  of  miracles  implies  God's  presence  to  perform  them, 
a  close  and  intimate  contact  between  the  Deity  and  the  world. 
This  special  concern  of  God  for  mankind  Nachmanides  em- 
phasized. With  this  warm,  loving,  human  theology  he  sought 
to  edify  the  minds  of  his  readers,  to  make  life  more  sweet 


Nachmanides  131 

and  death  less  terrible.  Now  and  then  he  permitted  them  a 
glimpse  into  the  mystical  realm  in  which  he  himself  loved 
to  move;  but  these  glances  into  the  unknown  were  few,  and 
he  warned  the  people  of  the  folly  and  danger  of  letting  their 
minds  brood  over-long  upon  the  mystical.  He  liked  better  to 
lead  them  rapidly  on  to  some  more  practical  and  helpful 
lesson. 

This  loving  helpfulness,  this  warm  humanity,  is  very 
characteristic  of  Nachmanides.  We  find  it  again  in  his  op- 
"Aii  Good  position  to  the  philosophers  who  look  with  scorn 
Things  upon  all  human  pleasures  and  impulses.  He  held 

that  everything  created  by  God,  not  only  soul,  but 
also  body,  is  good  and  perfect.  Indeed,  Robert  Browning 
might  have  been  speaking  for  Nachmanides  when  he  made 
his  Jewish  rabbi  say: 

"Let   us   not   always   say, 
'Spite  of  this  flesh  to-day 

I   strove,   made   head,   gained   ground   upon    the   whole  I' 
As   the  bird   wings  and   sings, 
Let  us  cry,  'All  good  things 

Are    ours,    nor    soul    helps    flesh    more,    now,    than    flesh 
Helps   soul!" 

Nachmanides  went  happily  on  with  his  busy  life  as 
physician,  rabbi,  teacher,  and  writer,  surrounded  by  his 
family  and  his  pupils,  and  so  reverenced  by  all  his  neighbors 
that  we  are  told  "his  words  were  held  in  Catalonia  in  almost 
as  high  authority  as  the  Scriptures."  Then  suddenly,  when 
he  was  well  advanced  in  years,  this  peaceful  life  was  inter- 
rupted by  an  event  which  tore  the  venerable  rabbi  away 
from  his  family  and  his  native  land,  and  sent  him  forth  an 
exile. 

A  convert  to  Christianity,  one  Pablo  Christiani,  was  jour- 
neying about  among  the  Jewish  communities,  seeking  to 
convince  his  former  co-religionists  that  they  should  accept 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  After  many  vain  attempts  to  make 


132  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

converts,  he  appealed  to  King  James  of  Aragon  to  command 
the  most  famous  rabbi  of  Spain,  who  was,  of 
Disputation,  course,  Nachmanides,  to  meet  him  in  public  de- 
bate on  the  relative  merits  of  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity. If  he  could  silence  their  foremost  rabbi,  he  would 
surely  be  successful  with  the  Spanish  Jews.  The  apostate 
relied  for  his  victory  on  the  reserve  that  a  Jew  would  be 
compelled  to  maintain  through  fear  of  arousing  the  anger 
of  the  Christians,  and  he  confidently  assured  the  king  that 
he  could  force  Nachmanides  to  admit  the  justice  of  the 
Messianic  claims  of  Jesus. 

Although  Nachmanides  knew  that,  whatever  the  result 
of  the  controversy,  the  end  would  be  persecution  of  his 
,AJ  Noble  {people,  he  had  to  obey  the  order  of  the  king.  He 
Representative  stipulated,  however,  that  perfect  freedom  of 
of  Judaism.  Speecn  should  be  granted  him;  and  when  King 
James'  confessor  told  him  that  he  must  not  take  advantage 
of  his  liberty  of  speech  to  revile  Christianity,  he  replied  with 
dignity  that  he  knew  the  rules  of  common  courtesy.  And 
throughout  the  disputation,  which  lasted  for  four  days,  he 
conducted  himself  nobly,  a  representative  of  whom  the  re- 
ligion he  was  defending  might  well  be  proud.  At  Barcelona, 
in  the  palace  of  the  king,  the  solemn  discussion  took  place. 
On  one  side  were  ranged  the  king,  the  court,  distinguished 
ecclesiasts,  knights,  and  citizens,  in  all  the  pomp  and  splendor 
of  mediaeval  display.  Against  them  all  stood  Nachmanides, 
and  among  the  courtly  audience  an  occasional  Jew  followed 
the  proceedings  breathlessly,  forgetting,  perhaps,  in  his  in- 
terest in  the  arguments,  the  haunting  fear  of  what  must 

follow. 

At  the  outset  Nachmanides  clearly  defined  the  points  to 
be  discussed.     The  differences  between   Judaism 
and  Christianity  were   so   numerous  that   it  was 
advisable  to  pay  attention  only  to  the  most  essen- 
tial.    The  topics  which  he  suggested,  therefore,   were    (1) 


Nachmanides  133 

whether  the  Messiah  had  come;  (2)  whether  the  Messiah, 
according  to  the  prophecies  in  the  Bible,  was  to  be  considered 
as  God  or  man,  and  (3)  whether  Judaism  or  Christianity 
was  the  true  faith. 

From  the  very  beginning,  Nachmanides  disarmed  his 
antagonist,  whose  arguments  were  based  on  passages  quoted 
The  from  the  Haggadah,  by  declaring  the  Haggadah 

Haggadah  no  to  be  only  a  series  of  sermons,  expressing  the 
nty'  individual  opinions  of  the  rabbis,  and  thus  hav- 
ing no  binding  authority  with  the  Jew,  who  could  accept 
them  or  reject  them  at  his  will. 

Having  refuted  the  statement  that  the  Talmud  recognized 
Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  Nachmanides  went  on  to  prove  that 
The  the  Prophets  regarded  the  Messiah  as  a  man  and 

Messianic  not  as  a  divinity,  and  that  their  promises  of  a 
Messianic  era  of  universal  peace  and  justice  had 
certainly  not  yet  been  fulfilled.  On  the  contrary,  since  the 
appearance  of  Jesus  the  world  had  been  filled  with  violence 
and  injustice,  and  of  all  denominations  the  Christians  were 
the  most  warlike.  Then,  turning  to  the  king,  Nachmanides 
had  the  courage  to  say,  "It  behooves  thee  and  thy  knights, 
O  king,  to  put  an  end  to  all  thy  war-making,  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Messianic  era  demands." 

Nachmanides  pointed  out  further  that  the  question  of 
the  Messiah  is  not  of  such  importance  in  the  Jewish  reli- 
Qnestionof  gion  as  the  Christians  imagine.  The  coming  of 
the  Messiah  the  Messiah  is  not  desired  by  the  Jews  as  an 
Primary  end  in  itself.  What  makes  them  long  for  his 
importance,  appearance  is  the  hope  and  belief  that  then  they 
will  witness  a  greater  spread  of  purity  and  holiness  than  is 
now  possible ;  that  they  will  be  better  able  to  lead  a  righteous 
life  after  the  will  of  God. 

When  Nachmanides  had  been  debating  with  candor  and 
with  skill  for  three  days,  the  Jews  of  Barcelona  entreated 
him  to  break  off  the  disputation,  as  thev  feared  the  resentful 


134  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

persecution  that  might  follow  his  success.     Friendly  Chris- 
tians, too,  counseled  him  to  give  no  further  provo- 
cation.     The  king,   however,   when  Nachmanides 
made    known    to    him    these    apprehensions,    or- 
dered  him  to   proceed;   and  the   controversy   concluded   in 
triumph  for  the  Jew. 

Pablo,  however,  claimed  the  victory;  and  Nachmanides, 
from  a  sense  of  duty  to  those  whom  he  represented,  pub- 
The  lished  a  full  and  accurate  report  of  the  proceed - 

Champion  ings.  From  this  publication  Pablo  selected  cer- 
tain passages  which  he  interpreted  as  blasphem- 
ing Christianity.  A  formal  complaint  was  lodged  with  the 
king,  who  was  obliged  to  entertain  the  charge.  Nachmanides 
defended  himself,  pleading  that  he  had  written  nothing 
which  he  had  not  used  before  the  king,  and  reminding  the 
king  that  freedom  of  speech  had  been  granted  him.  He 
urged  that  he  ought  not  be  condemned  for  expressing  in 
writing  anything  that  had  remained  unrebuked  in  his  oral 
defense.  The  king  acknowledged  the  justice  of  this,  but  to 
satisfy  the  clergy,  Nachmanides  was  sentenced  to  banishment 
for  two  years,  and  his  pamphlet  was  condemned  to  be 
burned.  This  punishment,  however,  the  clergy  found  too 
mild,  and  by  appealing  to  the  Pope  they  seem  to  have  suc- 
ceeded in  turning  the  two  years'  exile  into  perpetual  ban- 
ishment. 

At  the  age  of  seventy,  Nachmanides  left  his  fatherland, 
his  school,  his   friends,   his   sons,   and  went   into   exile.      It 
is  not  known  where  he  found  a  home  during  the 
Jerusalem.       next  three  years ;  it  is  probable  that  he  sought 
refuge  with   friends  somewhere  in  Castile  or  in 
southern   France.     But   we  do  know  that  in   1267  he  left 
Europe  and  made  his  way  to  the  Holy  Land.     Of  his  feel- 
ings on  beholding  the  sacred  city  he  himself  wrote:     "Oh! 
I  am  the  man  who  saw  affliction.     I  am  banished  from  my 
table,  far  removed  from  friend  and  kinsman,  and  too  long 


Nachmanides  135 

is  the  distance  to  meet  again.  ...  I  left  my  family,  I 
forsook  my  house.  There  with  my  sons  and  daughters,  and 
with  the  sweet  and  dear  children  whom  I  have  brought  up 
on  my  knees,  I  left  also  my  soul.  My  heart  and  my  eyes 
will  dwell  with  them  forever.  .  .  .  But  the  loss  of  all 
this  and  of  every  other  glory  my  eyes  saw  is  compensated 
by  having  now  the  joy  of  being  a  day  in  thy  courts,  O 
Jerusalem,  visiting  the  ruins  of  the  Temple  and  crying  over 
the  ruined  Sanctuary;  where  I  am  permitted  to  caress  thy 
stones,  to  fondle  thy  dust,  and  to  weep  over  thy  ruins.  I 
wept  bitterly,  but  I  found  joy  in  my  tears." 

Nachmanides    had   gone   to    Jerusalem    with    the   intense 

longing  of  Judah  Halevi.     He  found  the  land  desolate;  the 

Jews  were  slain  or  scattered.     But  Nachmanides 

between          did  more  than  mourn  in  the  courts  of  the  ruined 

judea  and      Temple.     He  encouraged  the  pilgrims  to  the  Holy 

the  West. 

Land  to  build  synagogues  and  organize  congre- 
gations. He  gathered  about  him  a  circle  of  disciples.  Peo- 
ple came  in  great  numbers  to  hear  his  lectures  and  sermons. 
It  was  in  Palestine  that  the  greater  part  of  his  Commentary 
on  the  Pentateuch  was  written.  From  Palestine  he  wrote 
letters  home.  Thus  he  forged  a  link  between  Judea  and  the 
western  world,  bringing  the  Oriental  Jews  the  rich  culture 
of  Spain.  Yet  this  busy  and  useful  career  in  Palestine  was 
not  a  long  one.  He  lived  there  only  about  three  years,  for 
in  1270  he  was  dead. 

No  man  except  Maimonides  exerted  so  strong  an  influ- 
ence upon  the  Jews  of  his  own  time  and  succeeding  ages. 
He   made   popular   an    attitude   towards    religion 
influence.        characterized  by  an  unwavering  devotion  to  Juda- 
ism, a  deep  reverence  for  the  Talmud  and  rab- 
binical authorities,  and  a  leaning  towards  the  mysticism  and 
the  passionate  religious  yearnings  of  the  Cabala.     And  this 
influence  he  gained,   not   so  much   through   his   writings   as 
through  his  personality.     The  warmth  of  his  humanityt  his 


136  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

loving  desire  to  be  of  service  to  the  humble,  his  tender 
compassion  for  all, — these  were  the  traits  that  gained  him 
his  popularity  and  his  influence.  Some  writers  even  assign 
to  him  a  higher  place  than  to  Maimonides.  But  we  need 
not  attempt  to  measure  the  services  of  men  so  different. 
Judaism  has  need  of  both.  It  needs  the  profound  mind 
bringing  to  the  problems  of  life  all  the  aid  that  philosophy 
can  contribute,  and  it  needs  the  loving  heart  that  longs  to 
make  life  sweeter  and  nobler  for  the  vast  majority  of  men; 
to  guide  humble,  loyal,  grateful  souls  to  God. 

Nachmanides  was  a  poet,  too;  and  a  few  stanzas  from 
Alice    Lucas'    translation    of    his    hymn    for    the 

Nachmanides     ..,  „  .,«       1  ,  .       ,  r     r\     1  j     i  • 

as  Poet.          New  Year  will  show  his  love  of   God   and  his 
feeling  of  security  in  God's  love  of  man: 

"Thine  is  the  love,  O   God,  and  Thine  the  grace, 
That  folds  the   sinner  in   its   mild   embrace: 
Thine   the   forgiveness   bridging  o'er  the   space 

'Twixt  man's  work  and  the  task  set  by  the  King. 

"Unheeding  all  my  sins,  I  cling  to  Thee; 
I   know   that   mercy   will   Thy   footstool  be: 
Before    I    call,    O    do   Thou   answer   me, 

For  nothing  dare   I   claim  of  Thee,  my  King. 

"O  Thou   who   makest  guilt  to   disappear, 
My  help,  my  hope,  my  rock,  I  will  not  fear: 
Though   Thou   the   body   hold   in   dungeon   drear, 
The   soul   has   found   the   palace  of  the   King." 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Graetz :     Geschichte,  Vol.  VII,  p.  37  ff. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.   Ill,  pp.   530-57,   598-609. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia :     Vol.  IX,  p.  87,  Article  Moses  b.  Nahman. 
Roscnau,  W. :    Jewish  Biblical  Commentators,  pp.  106-110. 
Schechter,  S. :     Studies,  Vol.  I,  p.  99. 


XV. 
RASHI. 

While  Hebrew  statesmen,  scientists,  poets,  and  philoso- 
phers  were   making    Spain    famous    in   Jewish    history,    the 

Jews  of  France  and  Germany  were  working  in 
of  France  humbler  f  ashion,  taking  up  the  task  that  the  Baby- 
and  Ionian  schools  had  laid  down,  following  the  early 

Gaonim,  rather  than  Saadia,  applying  themselves 
to  the  study  of  the  Law  even  more  assiduously  than  did  the 
Spanish  scholars. 

In  France  and  Germany  Jews  had  settled  early.     Before 
the  fifth  century  there  were  Jewish  communities  in  the  south 

of    France;    and    although    they    were    disturbed 

Their  Early 

History.  from  time  to  time  by  the  hostility  of  distrustful 
church  councils  and  overzealous  bishops,  on  the 
whole  they  led  a  peaceful,  happy  life.  They  supported 
themselves  in  the  same  manner  as  did  the  other  inhabitants 
of  the  country :  they  were  merchants  and  sailors ;  they  cul- 
tivated fields  and  vineyards ;  they  raised  cattle ;  they  prac- 
tised every  handicraft.  In  general,  unlike  the  Jews  of  Spain, 
they  were  not  permitted  to  take  part  in  the  government;  but 
they  were  content  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  industry  and 
the  unmolested  practice  of  their  religion.  Throughout  France 
they  lived  in  close  and  friendly  intercourse  with  their  neigh- 
bors, speaking  the  language  of  the  land,  following  its  cus- 
toms, highly  esteemed  by  both  the  people  and  their  rulers. 
The  French  Christians,  among  whom  they  were  living, 

137 


138  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

were  a  simple  people  with  none  of  the  breadth  of  knowledge 
students  of  that  distinguished  the  Mohammedans  of  Spain. 
Bible  and  Accordingly  we  do  not  find  among  the  Jews  of 

France  the  many-sided  culture,  the  philosophy  and 
poetry  that  flourished  under  the  more  congenial  conditions 
in  Spain.  But  it  would  be  a  serious  mistake  to  think  that 
the  Jews  of  France  were  one  whit  inferior  to  their  Spanish 
brethren  in  moral  earnestness  or  in  religious  fervor.  Their 
undivided  attention  they  gave  to  the  Bible  and  the  Talmud; 
and  for  the  very  reason  that  the  subjects  to  which  they 
devoted  themselves  were  less  varied,  they  gained  in  them  all 
the  greater  accuracy  and  depth  of  knowledge.  As  students 
of  Bible  and  Talmud  they  were  unsurpassed. 

For  a  long  time  they  sent  their  young  scholars  to  Sura 
and  Pumbeditha  to  be  instructed.     All  their  religious  diffi- 

culties they  submitted  to  the  learned  men  of  the 
to  *h(T  Eastern  academies.  Jewish  traders  who  traveled 

Eastern          j-o  the   Orient   brought   back   not   only   rich    em- 

broideries and  costly  jewels,  but  also  a  more  pre- 

cious store  of  wisdom,  the  treasured  answers  of  the  Gaonim. 

At  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  however,  at  Mayence, 

in  France,  Rabbi  Gershom  ben  Judah  established  a  school 

where    French    and    German    Jews    might    study 

with  him  the  Bible  and  the  Talmud;  and  so  clear 


Light  of  an(j  decisive  were  his  comments  that  it  was  no 
longer  necessary  to  send  students  and  messengers 
on  the  long  and  laborious  journey  to  Babylon.  Instead,  the 
scholars  of  France  and  Germany  gathered  around  Gershom, 
whom  they  honored  so  highly  that  they  called  him  Rabbenu, 
our  Master,  and  also  Light  of  the  Exile,  a  name  that  still 
clings  to  him.  Of  him  Rashi,  the  great  man  who  continued 
his  work,  said:  "Rabbenu  Gershom  has  enlightened  the 
eyes  of  Captivity;  we  all  live  by  his  instruction." 

But  all  Rabbi   Gershom's   time  was  not   spent   in   class- 
room instruction;  his  chief  work  was  a  Talmud  commen- 


Rashi  139 

His  Talmud  tary  which  made  puzzling  passages  clear.  He 
«"nd"hi»ntary  exerted  also  an  important  influence  upon  the 
Decree*.  social  life  of  the  Jews  of  Christian  Europe  through 
his  Decrees,  which  were  even  more  far-reaching  in  their 
effect  than  his  commentary.  He  found  that  some  of  the  laws 
to  which  the  Jews  had  been  accustomed  in  the  East  were 
more  suitable  to  an  oriental  civilization  than  to  the  life  of 
the  West.  These  precepts  Rabbi  Gershom  changed  so  as  to 
fit  them  to  the  habits  of  the  people  of  France  and  Germany. 
For  example,  he  forbade  polygamy.  Another  of  his  decrees 
made  the  conversion  of  non-Jews  to  Judaism  easier  than  it 
had  been  before.  In  these  ways  Rabbi  Gershom  became 
the  leader  of  the  Jews  in  Christian  Europe. 

The  disciples  of  Rabbi  Gershom  continued  the  work  of 
their  master,  and  in  the  greatest  of  his  followers  they  found 
a  guide  to  direct  their  further  studies.  This  new 
leader  was  Solomon  bar  Isaac,  or  Rashi,  as  he 
is  better  known,  according  to  a  favorite  Jewish  method  of 
naming  great  men  by  a  combination  of  their  initials,  .Rabbi 
Solomon  bar  /saac  becoming  Rashi.  About  the  life  of  Rashi 
little  is  definitely  known;  but  because  he  was  esteemed  by 
his  contemporaries  as  a  man  of  great  learning  and  noble 
character,  and  because  the  generations  since  his  death  have 
cherished  his  memory,  people  have  always  wanted  to  know 
all  about  the  details  of  his  life;  and  accordingly,  where  actual 
history  fell  short,  popular  imagination  made  the  picture 
complete. 

Rashi  was  born  at  Troves,  in  France,  in  1040,  the  year 

in  which  the  academy  at  Pumbeditha  was  closed.    The  work 

left  unfinished  by  the  Babylonian  schools  was  to 

The  Young        -  J         .  ,         ,       _,  ,         ,     . 

student  be  taken  up  and  earned  on  by  the  French  scholar, 
for,  as  the  Talmud  says,  "When  one  star  sets  in 
Israel,  another  star  rises  on  the  horizon."  Rashi's  parents 
were  poor,  but  they  were  noted  for  their  piety  and  learning. 
From  his  father  the  young  Solomon  probably  received  his 


140  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

early  education.  Then,  in  spite  of  his  poverty,  his  longing 
for  knowledge  led  him  to  the  celebrated  schools  in  Mayence 
and  Worms.  Like  Hillel  and  Akiba,  he  often  went  without 
bread,  he  often  suffered  from  the  cold  for  lack  of  warm 
clothing;  but  no  hardship  could  daunt  him  in  his  devotion 
to  study. 

Legend  has  it  that  in  his  search  for  knowledge  he  made 

a  tour  of  almost  the  whole  world  known  to  his  time.     It 

tells  us  that  while  he  was  journeying  in  the  East 

Rabbi   and         ,  ,.,,...., 

Monk.  he  met  a  monk,  with  whom  he  fell  into  friendly 

conversation.  Soon,  however,  his  companion  be- 
gan to  attack  Judaism;  and  as  Rashi  warmly  defended  his 
religion,  the  travelers  parted  in  anger.  But  that  night,  at 
the  inn  where  both  were  staying,  the  monk  was  suddenly 
stricken  with  a  dangerous  illness;  and  Rashi,  forgetting  all 
unpleasantness,  hurried  to  his  bedside,  and  cared  for  him 
with  the  devotion  of  a  brother  until  he  was  restored  to 
health.  Then  the  monk  was  eager  to  pour  out  his  gratitude 
to  Rashi;  but  the  rabbi  interrupted  him,  saying:  "You  owe 
me  nothing.  Divided  though  we  are  by  our  religions,  we  are 
united  by  the  bonds  of  humanity  and  by  love  of  our  fellow- 
men,  which  Moses  has  commanded  us  as  a  duty.  Farewell, 
and  if  you  come  upon  a  Jew  in  misfortune,  help  him  as  I 
have  helped  you." 

Later,  when  returning  homeward,  Rashi  is  said  to  have 
passed  through  Prague,  in  Bohemia.  There  the  Jews  re- 
joiced at  the  arrival  of  so  distinguished  a  visitor,  but  un- 
fortunately their  happiness  irritated  a  powerful  noble  who 
hated  the  Jews,  and  who  seized  this  opportunity  to  grieve 
them  by  having  the  famous  rabbi  arrested  as  a  spy.  In  vain 
the  distressed  congregation  tried  to  secure  Rashi's  release. 
Bitterly  it  mourned  the  sad  fate  of  its  honored  guest.  Rashi 
fiimself,  strong  in  his  faith  in  God.  remained  calm  and  strove 
to  comfort  the  sorrowing  people.  The  day  of  the  trial  came, 
and  the  duke  was  about  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  death, 


Rashi  141 

when  his  counsellor,  a  great  bishop,  raised  his  eyes,  saw 
the  prisoner,  and  at  once  stepped  forward  and  cried:  "In 
the  name  of  God  I  protect  and  defend  this  Jew.  Not  a 
hair  of  his  head  shall  be  hurt,  for  he  is  not  only  a  great 
scholar,  but  a  noble,  generous,  and  God-fearing  man."  The 
bishop  was  none  other  than  the  monk  whom  Rashi  had  be- 
friended in  the  Orient.  His  intercession  secured  Rashi's 
safety  and  freedom.  Indeed  the  duke  went  so  far  as  to 
confer  upon  Rashi  many  distinctions  and  privileges,  which 
he  generously  devoted  to  the  betterment  of  the  condition  of 
the  Jews  in  Prague.  Tradition  ends  the  story  happily  by 
adding  that  Rebecca,  the  daughter  of  Rashi's  host,  fell  in 
love  with  him,  and  as  his  wife  returned  with  him  to  Troyes. 
Legend  also  tells  us  that  at  Worms  the  young  Rashi 
spent  the  greater  number  of  his  years  of  study.  There  even 

to-day  visitors  are  still  shown,  adjoining  the  syn- 
Worms.  agogue,  a  small  building  called  the  Rashi  Chapel, 

and  a  seat  in  a  niche  in  the  wall  called  the  Rashi 
Chair.  Recently  the  authorities  of  Worms  named  a  street 
in  their  city  after  the  great  Jewish  scholar. 

And  now  he  had  completed  his  apprenticeship;  master  of 
all   rabbinical   learning,    he   returned  to   his   native  Troyes. 

Here,  in  recognition  of  his  profound  scholarship, 
«nd  Leader,  the  people  honored  him  as  their  rabbi.  Here  he 

lectured  on  the  Bible  and  the  Talmud,  and  from 
all  parts  of  France  and  Germany  scholars  flocked  now  to 
Troyes,  rather  than  to  Mayence  or  Worms.  To  Rashi  the 
Jews  of  Christian  Europe  now  turned  for  counsel  and  instruc- 
tion in  all  problems  more  or  less  closely  connected  with  reli- 
gion. His  answers  to  their  questions  show  his  character, — 
his  piety,  his  gentleness,  and  his  modesty,  as  well  as  his 
great  learning.  In  them  he  never  adopted  a  superior  man- 
ner, never  used  a  sarcastic  expression.  Nor  did  he  hesitate 
to  admit  his  own  mistakes,  even  when  it  was  one  of  his 
pupils  who  pointed  them  out  to  him.  In  his  Responsa,  for 


142 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


Rashi  143 

example,  he  wrote:  "The  same  question  has  already  been 
put  to  me,  and  I  gave  a  faulty  answer.  But  now  I  am  con- 
vinced of  my  mistake,  and  I  am  prepared  to  give  a  decision 
better  based  on  reason.  I  am  grateful  to  you  for  having 
drawn  my  attention  to  the  question ;  thanks  to  you,  I  now  see 
the  truth."  In  all,  Rashi  was  the  ideal  rabbi  of  the  period. 
Like  most  of  the  rabbis  of  his  time,  he  accepted  no  pay  for 
his  services.  Work  in  the  vineyards  about  Troyes  yielded 
him  enough  for  his  simple,  frugal  life.  Teaching  he  made 
a  labor  of  love.  And  in  his  school,  master  and  pupil  were 
equally  devoted  to  their  work.  Entire  days  they  spent  in 
study,  and  often  entire  nights  as  well.  Only  when  they 
had  completed  the  study  of  a  Talmudic  treatise  did  they  take 
time  from  their  tasks  for  a  little  recreation.  Their  greatest 
pleasure  they  found  in  the  delight  of  learning.  These 
pictures  that  remain  to  us  of  Rashi  as  rabbi,  as  leader  of 
the  Jewish  community,  and  as  teacher,  make  us  feel  that 
if  he  had  left  us  nothing  but  the  remembrance  of  his  life 
and  character,  even  then  his  service  to  Judaism  would  have 
been  great  indeed. 

Rashi,  however,  did  not  content  himself  with  giving  in- 
struction only  to  students   who  came  under  his   immediate 
influence  in  his  class-room.     He  wished  his  teach- 

Commentator.    .  . 

ings  to  reach  also  future  generations.  Accord- 
ingly he  undertook  the  works  that  were  to  occupy  him  for 
the  rest  of  his  life — his  commentaries  on  the  Bible  and  the 
Talmud.  In  form  they  are  not  connected  essays  that  can 
be  read  apart  from  the  text  they  explain;  they  are  rather 
notes  upon  words  or  phrases  that  are  difficult  to  understand. 
For  this  task  of  explaining  and  interpreting,  Rashi  had  all 
the  qualities  necessary  for  a  great  commentator.  His  mind 
was  clear;  his  language  was  accurate  and  concise.  Often 
he  solved  a  difficulty  with  one  well-chosen  word.  Frequently 
he  paraphrased  an  expression,  not  in  simpler  Hebrew,  but 
in  the  French  of  his  time.  And  it  is  interesting  to  note 


144  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

that  from  these  scattered  phrases  modern  students  of  lan- 
guage can  build  up  the  speech  that  was  in  common  use  among 
the  people  of  France  in  Rashi's  day. 

In  order  to  obtain   a  correct  text  of   the   Bible,   Rashi 

laboriously  compared  manuscripts  so  that  no  mistake  might 

creep    in.      He   lacked,    it   is   true,   the   scientific 

Commentary    knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  language  that   distin- 

on  the  guished    the    Spanish    scholars ;    but    he    was    as 

Bible.  .  .  .,,.«. 

thorough  a  grammarian  as  was  possible  in  his 
time  and  in  his  country,  and  he  had  that  fine  feeling  for  the 
spirit  of  the  sacred  tongue  that  comes  from  constant  occu- 
pation with  its  literature.  For  material  for  his  notes  he 
turned  to  the  Talmudic  and  Midrashic  literature;  but  to 
what  he  obtained  from  these  sources  he  freely  added  his 
own  interpretations.  It  is  worth  remark  that,  long  before 
such  Biblical  criticism  had  become  current,  it  was  he  who 
said  that  the  "servant  of  God"  mentioned  in  certain  chap- 
ters of  the  second  part  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah  represents  the 
whole  people  of  Israel.  In  general,  Rashi  preferred  the 
rational,  literal  explanation  of  his  text;  but  when  he  had 
made  a  verse  clear,  he  often  added  the  charming  Haggadic 
stories  that  clustered  about  it.  So  clear  and  interesting  is 
his  commentary  on  the  Bible,  so  full  of  fascinating  legends 
and  even  of  witty  sayings  and  kindly  humor,  that  it  is  not  a 
book  for  scholars  alone ;  for  centuries  it  has  been  the  favorite 
book  in  Jewish  homes,  a  storehouse  of  delightful  traditions 
that  without  it  would  be  unknown. 

Rashi's  commentary  on  the  Bible,  then,  is  a  popular  work 

for  general   reading;   his   commentary   on   the   Talmud,    on 

the  other  hand,  is  a  learned  treatise  for  the  serious 

His 

Commentary  use  of  students.  He  began,  as  he  did  with  the 
on  the  Bible,  by  establishing  a  correct  text,  the  result 

Talmud.  /  , 

of  careful  and  detailed  revision  of  manuscripts. 
The  material  for  his  commentary  was  provided  by  tradition, 
by  the  accumulated  learning  of  a  long  line  of  teachers  that 


Rashi  145 

had  been  passed  on  to  him  by  his  own  masters.  To  this 
task,  as  to  his  work  with  the  Bible,  he  carried  a  spirit  of 
scrupulous  exactness  and  precision.  The  language  of  the 
Talmud  is  often  obscure.  The  lack  of  punctuation  makes 
reading  very  difficult.  No  mark  separates  question  from 
answer,  one  sentence  from  the  other.  Then,  too,  the  Talmud 
often  treats  of  unfamiliar  questions.  It  mentions  facts  and 
customs  that  are  no  longer  matters  of  common  knowledge. 
For  all  these  difficulties  Rashi's  commentary  provides  an 
explanation  that  is  simple  yet  thorough. 

But  it  was  not  given  to  Rashi  to  pass  all  the  years  of  his 
studious  life  in  tranquil  application  to  the  books  that  he  loved. 
First  ^s  ^ast  years  were  darkened  by  the  terrors  of 
Cm»ade.  the  first  Crusade  (1096).  {jVVhen  the  Crusaders 
swept  across  Europe  to  wrest  "the  Holy  Sepulchre 
from  the  Turks,  many  were  undoubtedly  inspired  by  their 
faith,  by  the  zeal  of  their  religious  enthusiasm.  Many  more, 
however,  were  animated  by  no  such  lofty  motives ;  some  went 
to  escape  the  punishment  that  awaited  them  at  home  for 
misdeeds  committed;  some  were  drawn  by  love  of  adventure; 
and  the  great  mass  were  impelled  by  greed  of  plunder. 
Hordes  of  Crusaders  on  their  way  to  the  Holy  Land  robbed 
and  massacred  the  Jews  whom  they  encountered.  In  blind 
hate  and  bloody  bigotry  they  threw  themselves  on  the  peace- 
ful Jewish  communities  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  and  put 
to  death  ah  who  refused  to  be  converted.  These  awful  mas- 
sacres, the  victims  of  which  numbered  not  less  than  ten 
thousand,  plunged  the  Jews  of  Germany  and  France  into  the 
deepest  sorrow.  Few  preferred  pretended  conversion  to  a 
martyr's  deathT] 

At  last  the  Crusaders  were  gone  on  their  bloody   way, 

and  the  Jews  left  could  again  breathe   freely.     Now  those 

who   had   allowed   themselves   to   be   baptized   to 

Rashi  s  .     x 

Tolerance.       escape  martyrdom  could  return  to  their  ancestral 
faith.     Indeed,  Henry  IV,  emperor  of  Germany, 


146  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

in  spite  of  the  wrathful  protests  of  the  Christian  clergy, 
allowed  forcibly  converted  Jews  to  return  publicly  to 
Judaism.  Now,  however,  those  Jews  who  had  had  the 
courage  to  defy  death  and  to  remain  faithful  to  their  re- 
ligion refused  to  accept  the  apostates  as  their  brethren,  un- 
willing converts  though  they  had  been,  and  vehemently  op- 
posed their  re-admission  into  the  synagogue.  It  was  Rashi, 
with  his  characteristic  mildness  and  tolerance,  who  showed 
them  the  error  of  their  harshness.  "Far  be  it  from  us",  he 
said,  "to  turn  away  these  wanderers  who  have  returned  to 
us.  They  became  Christians  only  through  fear  of  death; 
they  show  their  true  feeling  by  hastening  to  return  to  their 
faith." 

Only  a  few  years  later,  in  1105,  Rashi  died,  but  his  in- 
fluence did  not  die  with  him.     The  men  of  his  own  family 

carried  on  his  work.  His  sons-in-law,  Judah  ben 
Family.  Nathan  and  Meir  ben  Samuel,  popularly  known 

as  Ram,  were  well-known  scholars.  And  Rashi's 
grandsons,  the  sons  of  Meir  ben  Samuel,  continued  the 
family  tradition.  They  were  Samuel  ben  Meir,  known  as 
Rashbam;  Isaac  ben  Meir,  known  as  Ribam,  and  Jacob  ben 
Meir  Tarn,  known  as .  Rabbenu  Tarn.  Their  task  was  to 
derive  from  the  Talmud  laws  made  necessary  by  the  ever- 
changing  conditions  of  life.  And  it  was  above  all  Rabbenu 
Tarn  who  held  that  all  new  enactments  must  represent  a 
continuous  development  of  the  Talmud.  In  almost  all  of 
the  editions  of  the  Talmud,  on  the  outer  margin,  and  oppo- 
site the  notes  of  Rashi,  the  critical  and  explanatory  notes  of 
these  men  are  to  be  found.  The  notes  are  known  as  Tosafot, 
and  the  authors  as  Tosafists.  The  term  Tosafot  means  "ad- 
ditions", and  some  scholars  think  these  notes  are  so  called 
because  they  are  additions  to  Rashi's  commentary  on  the 
Talmud.  Others  see  in  them  rather  additions  to  the  Talmud 
itself,  extensions  and  developments  of  the  Talmud.  The 
term  was  not  really  applied  first  to  the  notes  of  Rashi's 


Rashi  147 

disciples,  but  to  the  additions  to  Judah  ha-Nasi's  Mishnah, 
Tosefta  being  the  Babylonian  term,  which,  in  Palestinian 
writings  is  replaced  by  Tosafot. 

The  most  important  of  the  Tosafists  is  Rabbenu  Tarn. 
He  was  born  in  1100  and  died  in  1171.  He  was  the  actual 
head  of  the  Tosafists  in  France,  and  it  was  he 
T«m.  who  indicated  the  method  which  was  adopted  by 

all  his  successors.  If  the  Tosafists  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  continuing  the  work  of  the  Amoraim,  it  was 
chiefly  Rabbenu  Tarn  who  gave  the  impulse  in  that  direction. 
In  another  respect,  too,  he  furnishes  a  model  for  later  Tosa- 
fists, and  that  is  in  his  independence  of  standard  authorities, 
even  of  his  grandfather,  Rashi.  He  protested  against  the 
way  in  which  commentators  altered  the  established  reading 
of  ancient  texts,  often  violently  distorting  them  from  their 
original  meaning.  He  himself  would  recognize  only  well- 
authenticated  readings,  which  he  painstakingly  collected  and 
examined.  Thus  a  large  number  of  his  Tosafot  are  devoted 
to  a  correction  of  readings  of  the  text.  His  great  caution 
about  textual  matters  had  a  most  commendable  influence,  for 
his  pupils  took  to  heart  his  warnings  against  changing  the 
text.  He  emphatically  declared,  moreover,  that  his  explana- 
tions always  followed  the  simple  meaning  of  the  text,  ard 
he  argued  against  those  who  distorted  the  explanations  of 
earlier  teachers.  Yet  in  this  he  was  not  entirely  consistent, 
for  he  often  read  into  the  text  distinctions  which  did  not 
actually  exist  in  it. 

In  some  ways  Rabbenu  Tarn  was  like  his  brethren  in 
Spain.  He  added  to  the  French  absorption  in  the  study  of 
the  Talmud  a  knowledge  of  grammar  in  which  he  towered 
above  his  French  contemporaries.  And  he  was  a  poet  in 
the  style  which  the  Spanish  Jews  had  introduced  into  He- 
brew poetry.  When  Abraham  ibn  Ezra  was  traveling 
through  France,  Rabbenu  Tarn  greeted  him  in  verse,  a  feat 
which  led  the  Spaniard  to  exclaim  in  astonishment,  "Who 


148  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

has  admitted  the  French  into  the  temple  of  poetry?"  But 
it  was  as  a  Talmudist  that  he  won  his  greatest  fame.  Even 
during  his  lifetime  he  was  recognized  as  the  greatest  Tal- 
mudical  authority  in  France  and  Germany,  and  questions 
came  to  him  in  large  numbers  from  these  countries,  and 
occasionally  also  from  Spain.  The  respect  paid  him  was 
unbounded.  People  hardly  had  the  temerity  to  differ  with 
him  in  opinion.  Where  he  expressed  an  opinion  at  variance 
with  Rashi's  they  scarcely  dared  decide  between  grandfather 
and  grandson,  "those  two  high  mountains." 

Both  exercised  an  unusually  deep  and  widespread  influ- 
ence on  the  development  of  the  Law  in  the  life  of  the  Jews 
of  Europe  down  to  the  present  day.  The  Tosafists  of  France 
carried  on  the  work  of  Rabbenu  Tam. 

And  Rashi's  long  life  of  study  had  left  the  Jews  works 
that  were  to  be  their  comfort  and  their  guidance  through 
The  all  the  weary  years  that  were  before  them.  When 

influence  schools  were  destroyed,  when  teachers  and  scholars 
of  Rashi.  were  massacred,  when  repeated  expulsions  drove 
the  Jews  from  France,  the  fine  flower  of  French  Judaism 
was  not  entirely  lost:  the  Jews  of  France  carried  with  them 
to  foreign  lands  their  ideals  and  their  books;  they  carried 
with  them  Rashi's  teachings.  Pillage,  exile,  martyrdom, — 
all  could  be  borne  so  long  as  they  could  go  for  strength  to 
Bible  and  Talmud,  those  fountains  of  inspiration.  And  to 
these  springs  of  living  water  Rashi  had  made  the  way  plain. 

Rashi's  reputation  has  not  diminished  in  the  course  of 
The  Value  eight  centuries.  After  the  lapse  of  eight  hun- 
of  his  dred  years  Rashi  the  scholar  is  still  the  necessary 

Work  To-day.  instructor  of  modern  commentators  on  Bible  and 
Talmud,  and  Rashi  the  rabbi  and  the  man  is  still  a  popular 
hero  in  Jewish  homes. 


Rashi  149 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 
Graetz:    Geschichte,  Vol.  VI,  p.  64  ff. 
Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  VoL  III,  pp.  286-9. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  X,  p.  324,  Article  Rashi. 
Liber,  M. :     Rashi. 

Rosenau,  W. :     Jewish  Biblical  Commentators,  pp.  63-79. 
Winter  u.   Wuensche:     Juedische   Litteratur,  Vol.   II,   p.   276  ff. 


XVI. 
MEIR  OF  ROTHENBURG. 

We  have  now  traveled   far  in  the  centuries.     We  have 

seen  post-Biblical   Judaism   pass  through   many   stages:   we 

have  seen  it  grow  from  its  humble  beginnings  in 

A  Retrospect 

the  Vineyard  in  Jamnia  to  its  splendor  of  achieve- 
ment in  Babylon  and  in  Spain.  We  have  seen  it  spread  to 
all  the  countries  of  Europe.  We  have  found  Israelites  every- 
where learning  the  truths  of  Judaism — from  Ibn  Ezra,  for 
example,  on  his  travels,  in  Italy  in  the  south  and  in  England 
far  to  the  north.  In  Germany  and  in  France  we  have  found 
Jews  listening  reverently  to  the  wise  words  of  Rashi. 

But  then  we  saw  Rashi's  peaceful  work  in  vineyard  and 
in  school  sadly  broken  by  the  horrors  of  the  first  Crusade. 
For  with  the  first  Crusade,  in  1096,  began  an  era  of  well- 
nigh  intolerable  persecution  for  the  Jew.  And  yet,  up  to 
these  days  of  darkness,  the  Jews  had  enjoyed  the  good-will 
of  thtir  neighbors  and  the  protection  of  princes  and  kings. 
Side  by  side  with  Christian  comrades  they  had  worked  in 
vineyard  and  in  olive  grove,  in  the  workshop  and  at  the 
loom.  Christian  servants  had  labored  cheerfully  for  Jewish 
masters.  Jews  and  Christians  had  exchanged  friendly  visits. 
Jewish  merchants  had  brought  to  western  ports  the  strange 
spices  and  the  rare  fruits,  the  quaint  folk-lore,  the  glamour 
and  the  romance  of  the  far  East.  Jewish  doctors  healed 
Christian  patients,  and  their  learned  works  were  on  the 
shelves  of  university  libraries.  In  university  class-rooms, 
Jewish  sages  taught  with  Christian  schoolmen. 

150 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  151 

Now  all  this  was  to  be  changed.  Largely  through  the 
Crusades,  the  good  understanding  between  Jews  and  Chris- 
The  Effect  tians  was  to  be  destroyed.  The  Crusaders  were 
of  the  setting  off  for  distant  Palestine  to  fight  "un- 

believers", and  here  were  the  Jews,  "unbelievers" 
dwelling  in  their  midst.  "If  we  are  to  slay  infidels,  why  not 
slay  them  at  home  as  well  as  in  Syria?"  This  was  their 
logic.  Killing  peaceful  Jewish  citizens,  therefore,  was  no 
murder;  plundering  their  treasures  to  use  in  the  holy  cause 
was  no  robbery.  The  spirit  in  which  even  the  leaders  of 
the  Crusades  carried  out  their  mission  may  be  judged  from 
the  fact  that  when  at  last,  under  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  they 
entered  Jerusalem,  they  drove  all  the  Jews  of  the  Holy  City 
into  a  synagogue  and  burned  them  with  their  place  of  wor- 
ship. And  yet  it  was  not  so  much  the  leaders  as  the  fol- 
lowers that  burned  and  robbed  and  killed.  Now  and  then 
a  brave  voice  was  raised  against  the  slaughter.  The  Bishop 
of  Speyer  and  the  Bishop  of  Cologne  both  protected  the  Jews 
with  kindness  and  energy.  Later  the  noble  monk,  St.  Ber- 
nard of  France,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  did  all  he  could 
to  check  the  terrible  cruelty.  Enlightened  kings,  too,  pro- 
tested. The  German  emperor,  Henry  IV,  who  had  been 
away  in  Italy,  was  full  of  indignation  at  the  dark  deeds  that 
had  been  done  during  his  absence.  In  spite  of  the  anger  of 
the  clergy,  he  went  so  far  as  to  allow  those  Jews  who  had 
been  forcibly  converted  to  Christianity  to  return  to  their  own 
faith.  But  such  humanity  was  rare — so  rare,  indeed,  that 
we  find  the  good  Bishop  of  Cologne  accused  by  Church 
historians  of  having  been  bribed  by  Jewish  gold.  Not  other- 
wise could  they  understand  the  exceptional  sight  of  a  Chris- 
tian prelate  showing  kindness  to  a  Jew.  And  any  opposition 
to  the  prevailing  cruelty  was  useless.  In  all  the  flourishing 
towns  that  Jewish  industry  had  helped  to  make  prosperous, 
Jewish  men  and  women,  and  even  little  children,  were  slain 
by  the  sword,  or  burned,  or  drowned. 


152  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

And  yet,  as  we  have  seen,  there  was  no  natural,  deep- 
seated  hatred  of  the  Jews  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  among 
The  Motive  wnom  they  dwelt.  Jew-hatred  had  to  be  stirred 
for  up,  now  by  the  State  and  now  by  the  Church, 

Persecution.     It  was  a  maxim  of  the  statecraft  of  the  time  to 

have  people  alike — of  the  same  mind,  the  same  religion. 
Rulers  feared  differences.  And  as  for  the  Church,  it  is  a 
tragic  element  of  much  of  the  most  terrible  persecution  that 
it  sprang  from  a  perverted,  distorted  sense  of  duty.  Reli- 
gious fanatics  tortured  in  order  that  they  might  convert, 
sacrificing  the  body,  only,  as  they  honestly  believed,  that  they 
might  save  the  soul  from  eternal  pain;  for  they  saw  no  sal- 
vation outside  the  Church.  Not  only  Jews,  but  Christian 
heretics  as  well,  were  hunted  down  mercilessly.  Dissent  had 
to  be  crushed,  whether  it  was  political  or  religious,  and  to 
crush  it,  the  leaders  of  Church  and  State  poisoned  the  minds 
of  the  people  against  the  Jews.  As  a  result  of  their  efforts, 
the  masses,  who  had  no  cause  to  hate  the  Jews,  and  who, 
during  the  first  Crusade,  even  tried  to  protect  the  Jews  from 
the  Knights  of  the  Cross,  came  gradually  to  believe  that  the 
Jews  were  indeed  the  enemies  alike  of  God  and  man. 

To  create  this  prejudice,  horrible  charges  were  brought 
against  the  Jews.  The  worst  of  these  was  the  accusation  of 
The  Ritual  ritual  murder.  Just  as  the  Romans,  long  before, 
Murder  had  spread  the  rumor  that  the  early  Christians 
killed  children,  whose  blood  they  offered  to  their 
God,  so  now  the  Christians  accused  the  Jews  of  killing  Chris- 
tian children  at  Passover  time  to  use  their  blood  in  the  prep- 
aration of  the  unleavened  bread.  In  vain  enlightened  kings, 
and  even  popes,  pointed  out  that  the  Jewish  law  clearly  for- 
bids all  use  of  blood;  in  vain  they  commanded  that  no  one 
Should  raise  the  groundless  charge  against  the  Jews:  the 
ridiculous  myth  continued  to  be  dinned  into  the  ears  of  the 
masses  until  it  became  part  of  their  popular  belief.  Even 
to-day  this  dreadful  legend  still  exists.  In  benighted  countries 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  153 

it  is  still  able  to  rouse  the  credulous  people  to  frantic  out- 
bursts against  the  Jews.  In  those  dark  days  when  it  first 
arose,  it  spread  plunder  and  massacre  of  the  Jews  through 
France  and  Germany,  and  even  England. 

Another  charge  by  which  the  priests  inflamed  the  minds 
of  the  people  against  the  Jews  was  that,  in  malicious  mock- 
ery, the  Jews  stole  the  Host,  the  consecrated  bread 
Deaecration     or  wafer  used  in  Church  ceremony,  and  desecrated 
of  the  Host     Jt  by  pounding  it  in  a  mortar  until  blood  flowed 

Accusation.         e  .  ..         .          .,,. 

from  it,  or  by  piercing  it  with  knives.  A  modern 
botanist  has  shown  that  the  "blood"  on  the  Host  came  about 
through  a  fungus,  the  so-called  blood-fungus,  which  appeared 
upon  the  host  when  it  was  damp.  Yet  whole  communities 
of  Jews  were  sacrificed  to  the  credulity  of  the  mobs  that 
believed  this  accusation. 

All  these  sorrows,  however,  were  only  a  prelude  to  the 
massacres  that  raged  from  1348  to  1350.  In  1348,  a  dread- 
The  Charge  ^  P^g116'  tne  Black  Death,  came  out  of  Asia 
of  Poisoning  and  swept  across  Europe.  It  demanded  its  vic- 
:  s'  tims  of  rich  and  poor,  Jews  and  Christians.  In 
three  years  about  twenty-five  million  lives  were  snatched 
away  by  it.  Soon  after  its  appearance,  there  came  from 
France  the  mad  story  that  the  Jews  had  caused  it  by  pois- 
oning the  wells !  It  is  barely  possible  that  the  Jews,  pro- 
tected in  a  measure  by  their  isolation  and  by  their  obedience 
to  the  hygienic  precepts  of  their  Law,  suffered  somewhat 
less  than  their  Christian  neighbors.  Wild  as  the  rumor  was, 
it  was  believed.  Everywhere  the  frenzied  people  threw 
themselves  upon  the  unfortunate  Jews.  Scarcely  one  Jewish 
community  in  Europe  remained  unmolested.  In  many  cities 
Jews  were  burned  to  death ;  in  many  others,  they  killed  them- 
selves in  their  synagogues  in  order  not  to  fall  living  into  the 
hands  of  their  tormentors.  In  Strassburg,  all  Jews  who 
would  not  kiss  the  crucifix,  nine  hundred  in  number,  were 
burned  on  one  great  pyre.  Only  children  were  spared,  and 


154  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

they  were  baptized  before  the  eyes  of  their  agonized  parents. 
Against  these  fiendish  cruelties  some  princes  and  bishops 
again  lifted  their  voices.  They  pointed  out  that  the  Jews 
themselves  died  of  the  plague,  and  that  it  raged,  too,  where 
there  were  no  Jews.  They  were  unheeded.  Even  the  ex- 
hortations of  the  pope  were  without  avail.  The  massacres 
ceased  only  from  lack  of  further  victims. 

Thus  zealous  bigotry  working  on  superstition  and  ignor- 
ance contrived  to  make  the  life  of  the  Jew  almost  intolerable. 
The  time  came  when  the  average  man  believed,  "if  sickness 
prevailed,  it  was  because  the  Jews  had  poisoned  the  wells ; 
if  a  Christian  child  were  lost,  it  had  been  killed  for  some 
Jewish  ceremony;  if  a  church  sacristan  was  careless,  it  was 
the  Jews  who  had  stolen  the  Host  from  the  altar  to  pierce 
it  with  knives." 

Century  followed  century,  but  brought  no  relief  to  the 
Jews.  Every  country  has  its  shameful  tale  of  persecution. 
Not  a  single  Christian  people  has  kept  itself  clear  of  the 
reproach  of  inhumanity  to  the  Jews. 

In  England,  where  Jews  had  lived  since  the  Roman  Con- 
quest, the  infamous  blood  accusation  was  often  heard,  and 
in  all  cases  the  Jews  paid  for  the  baseless  charge 

In  England.          .  «,  ,.  tef+ 

with  their  lives.  Chaucer  in  one  of  his  Canter- 
bury Tales"  tells  the  story  of  one  of  the  boys  whose  un- 
timely death  was  laid  at  the  door  of  the  Jews,  and  his  ver- 
sion of  the  legend  of  little  Hugh  of  Lincoln  shows  the 
hatred  with  which  the  "cursed  Jews"  had  come  to  be  regarded 
in  mediaeval  England.  The  most  serious  outbreaks  against 
the  Jews  in  England  were  occasioned  by  the  accession  of 
Richard  the  Lionhearted  in  1189.  The  Jews,  anxious  to 
gain  the  favor  of  the  new  monarch,  sent  a  delegation  of  the 
most  respected  members  of  the  community  to  his  coronation 
at  Westminster,  bearing  as  costly  gifts  as  they  could  afford. 
The  bigoted  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  however,  protested 
against  their  admission,  and  Richard,  not  dreaming  that  any 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  155 

ill  consequences  would  follow,  obeyed  the  churchman  and 
forbade  the  entrance  of  the  Jews.  Thereupon  the  report 
spread  in  London  that  the  king  desired  the  humiliation  and 
destruction  of  the  Jews.  Immediately  the  mob  fell  upon 
them.  In  London  not  a  Jewish  household  escaped  robbery 
or  murder.  Similar  attacks  occurred  throughout  the  entire 
kingdom.  The  most  tragic  took  place  at  York,  where  the 
Jews  sought  refuge  in  the  castle.  The  townspeople,  urged 
on  by  the  monks,  who  promised  salvation  to  whoever  should 
shed  the  blood  of  an  unbeliever,  closed  in  on  the  stronghold. 
The  Jews  realized  that  further  resistance  was  hopeless.  In 
the  night  a  blaze  burst  forth  from  the  castle,  and  in  the 
morning  the  besiegers  found  an  ash-heap  which  entombed 
five  hundred  skeletons.  To  escape  the  tortures  of  the  Chris- 
tians, fathers  had  slain  their  wives  and  children,  and  had 
then  fallen  by  the  hands  of  one  another. 

For  a  century  longer  the  Jews  managed  to  maintain  a 
precarious  foothold  in  England.  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "Ivan- 
Expuiwon  noe"  ^ves  some  id£a  °f  tne  superstitious  fear 
from  and  savage  hatred  with  which  they  were  regarded. 

At  last  Edward  I,  in  1290,  issued  a  decree  ban- 
ishing all  Jews  and  confiscating  their  property.  Any  Jew 
found  on  English  soil  was  to  be  hanged.  16,500  Jews  pre- 
ferred the  bitterness  of  exile  to  the  dishonor  of  pretended 
conversion,  and  quitted  the  inhospitable  shore  of  England 
to  face  new  dangers  in  strange  lands.  One  ship  captain, 
who  had  been  paid  to  convey  several  families  and  their 
goods  down  the  Thames  to  the  sea,  ran  his  vessel  upon  a 
sandbank  and  made  the  poor  people  who  had  entrusted 
themselves  to  him  disembark.  Then,  as  the  tide  rose  and 
swept  across  the  sand,  he  sailed  away,  calling  out  derisively 
to  his  drowning  victims,  "Cry  unto  Moses,  who  led  your 
ancestors  safely  through  the  Red  Sea  to  bring  you  to  dry 
land."  The  unhappy  people  perished  in  the  waves.  This 
affair  came  to  the  ears  of  the  authorities,  and  the  offenders 


156  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

were  hanged  as  murderers.  But  how  many  similar  offenses 
must  have  been  perpetrated  against  the  helpless  exiles,  and 
have  remained  unpunished  and  unrecorded!  England  was 
now  free  of  Jews,  and  for  nearly  four  centuries  not  a  Jew 
lived  on  English  soil. 

The  English  exiles  had  little  choice  of  asylum.    In  France, 
expelling  the  Jews  and  then  selling  them  permission  to  re- 
turn   was    found   an   excellent   means    of    raising 

In  France.  ° 

money  when  the  royal  treasury  was  empty.  To 
France,  too,  belongs  the  sorry  distinction  of  tearing  from 
the  persecuted  Jews  their  holy  books  and  burning  them  as 
works  of  blasphemy,  thus  robbing  the  oppressed  people  of 
their  consolation  and  spiritual  safeguard  in  all  these  stormy 
times.  Then,  in  1394,  came  the  final  expulsion. 

From  Germany  the  Jews  were  never  exiled  in  a  body,  but 

they  lived  for  the  most  part  a  miserable,  hounded  existence. 

There  is  not  a  state  or  a  city  in  Germany  which 

In  Germany.     ,  .  . 

has  not,  at  some  time  or  other,  had  its  evil  share 
in  ill-treating  the  Jews.  Basle  expelled  its  Jews,  Fribourg 
burned  them,  Speyer  drowned  them.  The  entire  Jewish 
population  of  Strassburg,  two  thousand  souls,  was  dragged 
upon  an  immense  scaffold,  which  was  set  on  fire.  At  Worms, 
Frankfort,  and  Mainz,  the  Jews  set  their  homes  on  fire  and 
threw  themselves  into  the  flames,  to  escape  a  worse  fate. 
In  one  old  town  in  Germany  visitors  to  the  synagogue  are 
shown  a  lamp  burning  with  a  double  flame  before  the  ark. 
The  guide  will  tell  that  once,  in  the  old  cruel  days,  in  order 
to  excite  hatred  against  the  Jews  of  the  city,  a  dead  child 
was  secretly  thrown  into  the  cellar  of  a  Jew.  Straightway 
the  contrivers  of  the  outrage  brought  an  accusation  against 
the  Jews,  the  child  was  found,  and  the  authorities  of  the 
city  threatened  to  throw  the  chief  men  of  the  congregation 
into  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil  if  the  "murderers"  were  not 
given  up.  Time  pressed;  the  rabbi  and  the  elders  were 
bound,  ready  for  their  death  by  torture.  Then  appeared  two 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  157 

strangers  of  noble  bearing,  who  gave  themselves  into  the 
hands  of  the  magistrates,  voluntarily  accusing  themselves  of 
the  crime.  Innocent,  with  a  pious  lie  on  their  lips,  they  sac- 
rificed themselves  to  save  others.  It  is  to  commemorate  their 
heroic  death  that  the  lamp  with  the  double  flame  is  kept 
burning  forever  in  the  old  synagogue. 

During  all  these  unhappy  years,  the  harassed  Jews  of 
Germany,  driven  in  all  directions  by  the  violence  of  their 
persecutors,  came  to  Poland  in  large  numbers. 
They  held  to  their  German  tongue  and  transmit- 
ted it,  mixed  with  Hebrew  and  Polish  elements, 
from  father  to  son.  There  was  no  calling  that  they  did  not 
follow.  They  were  farmers,  artisans,  merchants.  And  for 
a  long  time  they  lived  in  Poland  in  peace,  following  their 
callings  honorably  and  helpfully,  and  studying  the  Talmud 
so  diligently  that  they  came  to  be  of  great  importance  in  the 
development  of  Jewish  life. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  rest  of  Christian  Europe,  Church  and 
State  were  ever  finding  more  ingenious  methods  of  persecu- 
tion than  mere  brutal  pillage  and  slaughter.  The  martyr's 
death,  horrible  as  it  was  made,  was  one  glorious  moment  of 
sacrifice.  Not  only  the  death,  but  the  whole  life  of  the  Jew 
was  to  become  a  martyrdom,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 
Those  who  were  not  slain  were  "reserved  for  greater  ig- 
nominy, for  an  existence  more  bitter  than  death." 

In  addition  to  crushing  the  Jews  down  under  the  weight 
of  enormous  taxes,  the  State  crippled  them  by  rigidly  re- 
Restrictiv  stricting  them  in  their  choice  of  an  occupation. 
Laws.  The  guilds,  those  great  semi-religious  unions  of 

workmen  of  the  middle  ages,  accepted  no  Jews ; 
and  therefore  it  was  seldom  possible  for  a  Jew  to  follow  any 
handicraft.  This  was  a  very  bitter  privation,  for  the  old 
Jewish  esteem  of  handicrafts  persisted  in  the  middle  ages. 
Agriculture,  too,  the  Jews  honored  most  highly,  and  now, 
m  almost  all  countries,  Jews  were  forbidden  to  own  or  cul- 


158  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

tivate  farms;  so  agriculture  became  impossible  for  them. 
There  was  left  for  them  only  trade,  and  traders  they  were 
forced  to  become.  Yet  the  Jews  had  originally  shown  no 
special  aptitude  for  trade.  They  had  been  herdsmen  and 
tillers  of  the  soil.  Their  traffic  had  been  insignificant.  Now, 
however,  when  prejudice  forbade  agriculture  and  the  handi- 
crafts, commerce  became  their  only  resource.  And  as  they 
practised  it,  their  dexterity  naturally  increased.  The  fact 
that  they  were  scattered  all  over  the  earth  made  communica- 
tion between  far  distant  lands  easy  for  them,  and  stimulated 
trade  among  them  until  they  became  merchants  everywhere. 
That  they  did  thus  become  merchants  has,  very  unjustly, 
been  made  a  reproach  to  them.  As  we  have  seen,  they 
turned  to  trade,  not  to  gratify  any  natural  instinct  or  apti- 
tude, but  because  rigorous  laws  forced  them  into  it.  And 
then,  too,  their  trading  was  as  useful  to  humanity  as  any 
other  necessary  occupation,  as  agriculture  itself.  Jewish 
merchants  were  the  connecting  links  between  Asia  and  Eu- 
rope. As  to  the  honesty  with  which  they  traded,  impartial 
investigators  have  found  the  Jews  rather  above  than  below 
the  level  of  general  morality.  The  Jews  held  to  a  faith  that 
required  of  them,  in  this  as  in  every  other  activity  of  life, 
an  ideal  purity. 

The  more,  however,  the  Christians  themselves  came  to 
turn  to  commerce,  the  more  the  Jews  were  hampered  even 
Peddler  and  ^n  tms  activity.  When  the  great  Italian  republics 
Money-  began  to  turn  their  attention  to  trading,  restric- 
tions upon  Jewish  trade  were  as  common  as  re- 
strictions upon  Jewish  agriculture  and  Jewish  handicrafts. 
In  the  later  middle  ages,  the  Jewish  trader  found  himself 
taxed  when  he  entered  a  market  and  taxed  when  he  left  it. 
He  was  permitted  to  enter  the  market-place  at  all  only  at 
inconvenient  hours.  Finally  he  was  left  nothing  to  trade  in 
but  second-hand  goods  and  money.  He  became  the  peddler 
and  the  money-lender  of  Europe. 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  159 

Now  as  money-lenders  the  Jews  found  themselves  in  a 
peculiar  and  dangerous  position.     The  Catholic  Church,  fol- 
lowing  indeed  a   precept   of  the  Jews'   own   Mosaic   code, 
regarded  the  practise  of  lending  money  for  interest  as  most 
blameworthy.      The    Church    drew    no    distinction    between 
loans  to  the  needy  and  advances  to  capitalists.     Interest  was 
regarded  as  robbery,  whether  the  lender  demanded  five  or 
fifty  percent.    Under  these  conditions,  the  life  of  the  money- 
lender was  certain  to  be  one  of  grave  risks.     He  had  no 
rights  at  law;  he  and  his  property  were  always  at  the  mercy 
of  the  envy  and  rage  of  the  populace;  a  needy  king  consid- 
ered himself  justified  in  excusing  all  creditors  their  debts  to 
Jews  on  payment  of  a  certain  sum  to  himself,  thus  reducing 
thousands  of  Jews  to  beggary.     On  account  of  this  lack  of 
ordinary  safety,  on  account,  too,  of  the  scarcity  of  gold,  and, 
most  of  all,  on  account  of  the  excessive  and  constant  de- 
mands of  Church  and  State,  bishop  and  king,  for  taxes  and 
more  taxes,  the  Jew  was  forced  to  charge  interest  that  to-day 
would    rightly   be    regarded    as    exorbitant.      Thus    he    was 
stamped  for  all  ages  with  the  shameful  brand  of  the  usurer, 
the  Shylock.     But  it  was  the  kings  and  the  princes  and  the 
heads  of  the  Church  who  were  the  real  usurers,  and  not  the 
helpless   Jew.     He  was   only  the  unwilling  means   through 
whom  the  aristocracy  oppressed  the  lower   classes,   gaining 
through  him  the  gold  that  they  demanded,  while  the  blame 
attached  itself  to  him.     Like  all  tax-gatherers,  he  came  to 
be  so  hated  that  any  fine  day,  without  any  pretext,  the  mob 
might  fall  upon  his  house  and  rob  him  of  what  wealth  his 
industry  and  frugality  had  acquired.     Then  they  would  kill 
him,  or,  if  he  were  more  fortunate,  they  would  merely  hunt 
him  from  house  and  home.     Such  possessions  as  escaped  the 
rabble  would  thereupon  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  lord  pro- 
tector.    Yet  although  the  middle  ages  confused  banker  and 
usurer,    regarding    both    with    equal    contempt,    among    the 
Jewish  mediaeval  dealers  in  money  were  many  high-minded 


160  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

and  cultured  men,  deeply  interested  in  literature,  giving 
with  princely  liberality  to  charity.  And  records  show  that 
Jews  were  often  incomparably  more  lenient  creditors  than 
were  Christian  financiers,  and  that  their  rates  were  some- 
times considerably  lower  than  those  charged  by  Christians. 

In  spite  of  the  doubtful  callings  into  which  the  mediaeval 
Jew  was  thrust,  he  kept  himself  upright  and  blameless  in 
The  Nobility  ms  DUsmess  dealings.  "A  Jew  sins  more  against 
of  Character  God  by  cheating  and  robbing  a  Christian  than 
Mediaeval  when  he  cheats  or  robs  a  Jew",  was  a  frequent 
jew:  His  maxim  in  mediaeval  books  of  morals ;  "because, 
although  both  acts  are  dishonest  and  criminal,  in 
the  case  of  a  Christian  the  Jew  not  only  offends  against  the 
moral  law,  but  profanes  the  sacred  name  of  God."  When 
the  Jew  did  offend,  as  he  did,  for  example,  in  clipping  or 
counterfeiting  the  coin  of  the  realm,  he  was  the  exception 
among  his  brethren  and  not  the  rule ;  and  the  synagogue  held 
over  his  head  the  dire  threat  of  excommunication,  of  casting 
him  out  from  the  fellowship  of  Israelites.  Nor  was  the  Jew 
the  only  offender  in  this.  Debased  coinage  was  everywhere 
common,  and  we  read  of  many  a  Christian  financier,  high  in 
position  and  power,  being  brought  to  justice  for  the  same 
offence.  So  little,  indeed,  had  the  mediaeval  Jew  the  reputa- 
tion for  dishonesty  among  his  neighbors  that  we  find  him 
constantly  employed  in  financial  offices  with  which  he  would 
not  have  been  entrusted  had  he  not  been  trustworthy. 

In  spite  of  grinding  taxes  that  emptied  his  purse  as  often 
as  he  had  laboriously  filled  it,  the  mediaeval  Jew  was  most 
charitable.     His  benevolence  was  wide  and  gen- 
erous:   although    it    went    out    first    to    his    own 
brethren,  it  knew  no  bounds  of  creed  or  race.     He  housed 
and  fed  poor  travelers,  often  refugees  from  persecution;  he 
ransomed   captives;  he   pensioned   widows;   he   enabled   the 
poor  to  become  self-supporting  and  self-respecting.     AH  this 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  161 

he  did  with  consideration  and  tact,  in  the  manner  of  one 
who  offered  a  friendly  interchange  of  services. 

At  a  time  when  his  Christian  neighbors  were  growing  up 
in  the  densest  intellectual  darkness,  the  Jew  held  ignorance 
His  Love  of  a  disgrace.  His  highest  ambition  was  to  be 
Learning.  learned.  The  religion  for  which  he  was  making 
such  costly  sacrifices  was  so  infinitely  precious  to  him  that 
he  felt  he  must  reverently  learn  every  smallest  injunction 
of  the  rabbis,  must  devote  every  free  hour  to  religious  study. 
Even  the  poorest,  no  matter  how  toilsome  the  labor  by  which 
he  won  his  daily  bread,  at  least  in  the  night  hours  bent  his 
head  over  the  pages  of  the  Talmud.  Thus  it  happened 
that  at  a  time  when  even  princes  could  hardly  write  their 
names,  every  Jew  was  an  educated  man.  He  was  a  careful 
scholar,  a  keen  thinker,  his  mind  developed  by  constant 
study  of  the  Talmud. 

And  in  one  spot  could  the  Jew  of  the  middle  ages  throw 
off  the  thought  of  the  oppression  that  bowed  him  down.  In 
his  own  home  he  found  the  respect  and  the  love 
denied  him  outside  the  ghetto  walls.  For  six 
laborious  days  he  might  bear  his  peddler's  pack 
from  village  to  village,  but  on  the  seventh  day,  in  the  circle 
of  family  love,  he  straightened  up  to  the  full  stature  of  a 
man.  In  the  glow  of  the  Sabbath  lights,  he  laid  his  hand 
in  blessing  on  the  head  of  his  children,  praying  for  joy  and 
peace  for  them ;  he  praised  his  happiness  in  having  a  God- 
fearing wife  at  his  side.  In  that  atmosphere  he  felt  him- 
self a  priest,  and  his  home  a  shrine.  The  Friday  evening 
meal  was  a  service,  at  the  end  of  which  he  sang  songs  cele- 
brating the  Sabbath  peace  and  the  family  happiness.  Heinrich 
Heine,  in  the  fanciful  verse  of  "Princess  Sabbath"  has  given 
us  a  vivid  picture  of  him:1 


translation  by  Margaret  Armour. 


162  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

"In   Arabia's   book   of   fable 
We  behold  enchanted  princes 
Who   at  times   their  form  recover, 
Fair  as  first  they  were  created. 

"Yet  the  respite   from  enchantment 
Is    but   brief,   and,   without   warning, 
Lo!   we   see   his   Royal   Highness 
Shuffled  back  into  a  monster. 

"Of  a  prince  by  fate  thus  treated 
Is  my  song.     His  name  is  Israel, 
And  a  witch's   spell  has  changed  him 
To   the    likeness    of   a    dog. 

"As  a   dog,   with   dog's   ideas, 
All   the   week,   a   cur,   he   noses 
Through     life's     filthy     mire     and    sweepings, 
Butt  of  mocking  city  Arabs; 

"But   on    every   Friday   evening, 
On  a  sudden,  in  the  twilight, 
The    enchantment   weakens,    ceases, 
And   the   dog  once   more   is   human. 

"And   his   father's   halls   he   enters 
As   a   man,   with   man's    emotions, 
Head    and    heart    alike    uplifted, 
Clad  in  pure  and  festal  raiment." 

Above  all,  he  was  faithful  to  the  religion  for  which  he 
must  suffer.  The  more  he  was  persecuted,  the  more  hero- 
ically he  clung  to  the  faith  of  his  fathers.  The 
Heroism.  most  gruesome  tortures  could  make  only  an  in- 
significant few  give  up  their  Judaism.  Some,  in- 
deed, yielded  to  the  temptation  of  baptism,  and  through  it 
found  a  way  back  to  comfort  and  safety,  to  worldly  honor 
and  power.  But  the  vast  majority  preferred  persecution, 
exile,  death  itself  to  pretended  conversion ;  and  thousands 
went  with  splendid  devotion  to  martyrs'  deaths,  like  Akiba 
of  old,  with  the  Shema  on  their  lips. 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  163 

It  was  the  religion  to  which  they  gave  their  lives  that 
gave  them  their  exalted  courage  on  the  rack  and  at  the  stake, 
The  Rabbis  tne^r  unequalled  patient  endurance  of  the  insult 
of  the  and  humiliation  of  their  daily  lives.  The  services 

Middle  Ages.    .n  ^  SynagOguej  among  fellow  worshippers  and 

fellow  sufferers,  gave  them  comfort  and  strength.  In  com- 
pany with  those  who  shared  their  sorrow,  the  oppressed  peo- 
ple gained  renewed  hope  from  prayer.  In  many  a  gloomy 
hour  they  were  inspired  with  new  zeal  by  the  writings  of 
the  prophets  who  saw  in  Israel's  days  of  darkness  only  the 
prelude  to  the  time  of  peace  and  brotherhood  for  all  na- 
tions. The  poets  of  the  synagogue,  too,  bade  them  look  to 
Zion,  and  wait  patiently  for  the  day  when  the  Law  would 
once  more  go  forth  from  the  holy  hill. 

And  what  shall  be  said  of  those  heroic  men  whose  task 
it  was  to  guide  the  people  through  the  darkness  and  terror 
of  these  ages  of  persecution?  Out  of  the  perils  that  en- 
compassed them  shine  the  steadfastness  and  the  courage  of 
the  rabbis  who  taught  in  the  shadow  of  the  prison  walls,  and 
preached  before  the  Ark  of  God  while  the  rabble  were  bat- 
tering down  the  doors  of  the  synagogue. 

Among  the  greatest  of  them  was  Rabbi  Meir  ben  Baruch 
of  Rothenburg.  He  was  born  in  Worms,  about  1215,  of  a 
Rabbi  Meir  family  noted  for  its  scholars.  From  his  letters 
°f  we  gather  that  no  fewer  than  twelve  Talmudical 

urg'  authorities  of  the  time  were  related  to  him,  and 
the  epitaph  upon  his  father's  grave  praises  him  as  a  man  of 
extraordinary  piety  and  distinguished  scholarship,  a  preacher 
with  a  brilliant  gift  of  oratory.  It  is  very  probable  that  Meir 
received  his  earliest  instruction  from  this  learned  father. 
Later  he  studied  in  French  schools  as  well  as  in  German, 
and  on  his  return  to  his  native  land  a  devoted  circle  of  pupils 
quickly  gathered  about  him.  Evidently  his  fame  was  so 
gpreat  that  many  communities  vied  with  one  another  for  the 
privilege  of  securing  his  services,  for  we  learn  that  he  offi- 


164  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

-dated  as  rabbi  in  many  places, — in  Kostnitz,  Augsburg, 
Wurzburg,  Rothenburg,  Worms,  Nuremberg,  and  Mayence. 
As  Rothenburg  is  the  locality  usually  associated  with  his 
name,  it  is  probably  there  that  he  spent  the  years  of  his 
greatest  activity  and  usefulness.  In  spite  of  the  constant 
menace  of  the  times,  the  life  he  led  there  had  its  pleasant 
hours.  He  himself  tells  us  of  his  comfortable  house,  with 
its  airy  dining-hall  and  with  a  separate  room  for  each  of  his 
many  pupils.  It  is  not  difficult  to  picture  the  honored  rabbi 
in  his  spacious  home,  among  his  books,  his  pupils  about  him. 
To  him  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  in  spite  of  the  diffi- 
culty of  communication  and  the  dangers  of  travel,  the  Jews 
sent  all  the  questions  that  perplexed  them.  All 

Chief  of  .  .  111 

the  Rabbis,     the  queries  as  to  right  and  wrong,  the  problems 
of   ethics  and  morality,  the  inquiries   concerning 
the  interpretation  of  the  Sacred  Word  came  to  the  rabbi  of 
Rothenburg.     For  although  it  is  difficult  to  determine  his 
actual   official   position   among   the   rabbis   of   his    time,   al- 
though he  may  not  have  been  chief  rabbi  of  Germany,  elected 
by  the  Jewish  communities  to  that  office,  still  it  is  certain 
that  he  was  everywhere  recognized  as  the  spiritual  leader, 
whose  decrees  were  considered  binding.     And  so,  according 
to  Rabbi  Meir's  decisions,  the  Jews  ordered  their  conduct. 
The  subjects  on  which  he  passed  judgment  touched  every 
phase   of   contemporary   life, — liturgy   and   ritual,    rights    of 
property,  civil  and   criminal  law,   domestic  trou- 

Questiont  of      ,  ,       -  .... 

Taxation.  bles,  rules  of  commerce  and  finance.  Many 
questions,  for  example,  arose  from  the  peculiar 
position  of  the  Jews  as  aliens  without  rights  at  law,  home- 
less outcasts,  serfs  of  the  emperor,  subject  to  such  taxes  as 
he  required  them  to  pay.  And  most  emperors  looked  upon 
the  Jews  as  a  source  of  taxes,  to  be  protected  only  when 
their  destruction  threatened  emptiness  in  the  royal  treasure 
boxes.  Indeed,  if  a  king  were  in  special  need  of  money, 
and  this  happened  frequently  in  those  times  of  many  wars, 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  165 

he  sold  his  Jews  like  a  herd  of  cattle  to  some  more  wealthy 
prince.  Now  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Jewish  community 
to  pay  these  onerous  taxes  from  a  general  fund,  to  which 
all  members  of  the  synagogue  had  to  contribute  their  share. 
Selfish  men,  however,  sometimes  gained  the  favor  of  the 
authorities,  and  wished  to  make  a  private  arrangement  with 
the  government,  to  their  own  personal  advantage  and  the 
disadvantage  of  the  community.  This  Rabbi  Meir  would  not 
permit.  He  decided  that  each  must  pay  his  proportionate 
share  of  the  amount  levied  on  the  community  in  which  he 
lived. 

Another  class  of  cases  of  common  occurrence  arose  from 

the  necessity  of  redeeming  from  captivity  those  Jews  who 

were  cast  into  prison  for  the  purpose  of  extorting 

Questions  of 

Ransom.  money  from  them.  So  frequent  were  these  im- 
prisonments and  so  exorbitant  were  the  sums  de- 
manded, that  some  preferred  the  dungeon  to  freedom  at  that 
price.  Yet  Rabbi  Meir  decided  that  the  dignity  and  common 
good  of  the  community  demanded  that  the  work  of  redemp- 
tion should  not  cease,  and  that  the  ransomed  was  in  every 
case  under  the  obligation  of  repaying  the  community. 

Even  Rabbi  Meir  himself  was  to  taste  the  bitterness  of 
life  in  prison.  As  his  long  and  useful  life  drew  towards 
A  FU  itive  *ts  cl°se»  tne  condition  of  the  Jews  in  Germany 
from  became  well-nigh  intolerable.  Not  for  a  moment 

were  they  sure  of  their  comfort  or  their  lives. 
Extortion,  pillage,  arson,  murder  were  matters  of  everyday 
occurrence.  In  all  the  towns  along  the  Rhine  there  were 
massacres,  and  in  all  the  villages  of  Germany  the  Jews  lived 
in  dread.  Many  fled.  Hundreds  went  to  the  Holy  Land, 
for  at  that  time  conditions  in  Palestine  were  very  favorable 
to  the  Jews.  At  length  the  venerable  rabbi  of  Rothenburg 
decided  to  leave  the  country  of  his  birth,  the  scene  of  his 
long  labors.  The  exact  occasion  of  his  departure  is  not 
quite  clear.  Some  assume  that  Rabbi  Meir  was  leading  a 


166  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

band  of  those  fugitives  who  were  driven  from  home  by  the 
cruelty  of  the  Germans.  Others  assert  that  the  emperor 
demanded  so  exorbitant  a  sum  of  money  from  the  Jews 
that  they  could  not  possibly  pay  it,  and  that  their  aged  leader, 
fearing  that  he  would  be  seized  as  hostage,  decided  upon 
flight. 

That  such  a  fear  was  not  ungrounded,  the  sequel  proves. 
The  rabbi  succeeded  in  reaching  a  city  in  the  mountains  of 

Ivombardy.  There  he  was  seen  and  recognized 
Prisoner.  by  a  renegade  Jew  in  the  train  of  the  Bishop  of 

Basel,  who  was  passing  through  the  city  on  his 
way  home  from  Rome.  This  traitor  informed  the  bishop, 
who  brought  it  about  that  the  lord  of  the  city  seized  Meir 
and  delivered  him  to  Emperor  Rudolph.  Now  it  was  by  no 
means  the  intention  of  the  emperor  that  the  Jews  should 
escape  from  his  clutches  and  that  the  imperial  treasury 
should  lack  the  gold  he  could  wring  from  his  unhappy  serfs. 
Accordingly  he  cast  the  rabbi  into  prison,  first  in  Wasser- 
burg,  a  German  locality  that  can  not  now  be  identified,  and 
later  in  the  fortress  of  Ensisheim,  in  the  district  of  Colmar, 
upper  Alsace.  For  the  ransom  of  his  distinguished  captive, 
the  emperor  demanded  the  enormous  sum  of  30,000  marks, 
the  equivalent  in  modern  currency  of  probably  $250,000. 
The  Jews,  impoverished  though  they  were,  were  eager  to 
attempt  to  make  the  sacrifice.  But  Rabbi  Meir  refused.  He 
declared  that  if  any  such  huge  sum  were  paid  for  the  libera- 
tion of  a  teacher  in  Israel,  the  government  would  greedily 
repeat  the  experiment  again  and  again.  So  the  aged  rabbi 
became  a  voluntary  prisoner.  In  the  beginning  he  was  sus- 
tained by  the  hope  that  the  emperor  would  relent,  and  that 
he  would  be  speedily  released.  Then  all  hope  of  freedom 
on  earth  faded,  and  he  submitted  in  the  thought  that  it  was 
the  will  of  God,  whose  ways  are  ever  just.  After  seven 
years,  in  1293,  death  came  as  a  welcome  release.  But  with 
death  the  tragedy  did  not  end.  The  authorities  would  sur- 


Meir  of  Rothenburg  167 

render  the  body  for  burial  only  on  the  payment  of  a  most 
onerous  ransom.  For  fourteen  years  the  utmost  efforts  of 
the  Jews  were  fruitless.  At  last  a  devoted  admirer  of  the 
rabbi  succeeded  in  satisfying  the  demands  of  the  rulers,  and 
Rabbi  Meir  was  laid  to  rest  with  his  fathers  in  the  graveyard 
in  Worms. 

Rabbi  Meir  left  voluminous   works,  the  product   of   his 

busy   life  of  varied  activity   and  of   his  years   of   enforced 

leisure   in   prison.      Indeed,    to   him   the   greatest 

His  Works.  *L    .  . 

privation  of  his  prison  cell  was  his  lack  of  the 
books  which  he  needed  for  his  study  and  his  writing.  He 
was  a  great  Tosafist,  and  his  Tosafot  to  several  Talmudical 
treatises  are  important  and  extensive.  They  show  him  as  a 
clear  and  logical  thinker,  with  a  fine  insight  into  methods 
and  system.  He  was  interested  in  many  subjects;  he  wrote 
on  the  blessings  to  be  pronounced  in  performing  certain  ac- 
tions, on  the  ritual  slaughtering  and  subsequent  examination 
of  animals,  on  mourning  customs,  on  the  duties  of  husband 
and  wife,  on  ritual  ceremonies  in  the  synagogue,  and  on 
various  other  matters. 

In  everything  he  is  the  representative  of  the  point  of  view 
of  the  Talmudist;  for  him  the  Talmud  is  the  rule  of  life. 
His  Chief  ^e  *s  ^e  scholar,  thoroughly  familiar  with  die 
Character-  works  of  his  predecessors,  and  yet  the  independent 

thinker  often  combating  with  vigor  the  opinions 
of  earlier  authorities.  He  shows  marked  independence,  too, 
in  his  freedom  from  the  superstitions  which  were  prevalent 
in  the  Germany  of  his  time,  among  Jews  as  among  Gentiles. 
And  a  most  characteristic  trait  is  his  sanity,  his  common 
sense,  which  we  find,  for  example,  in  his  emphatic  disap- 
proval of  indiscriminate  emigration  to  Palestine.  Only  those 
should  go  there,  he  says,  who  can  support  themselves  there 
and  lead  a  holy  life  in  the  Holy  Land.  In  moral  and  ethical 
questions  his  attitude  is  finely  upright.  To  the  question 
whether  a  lawyer  may  bring  into  court  arguments  which 


168  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

he  knows  are  false,  his  answer  is :  "No  Jew  may  commit 
so  ignominious  a  sin  against  justice  and  truth."  His  judg- 
ments in  regard  to  differences  between  husband  and  wife 
show  that  he  zealously  defended  the  rights  and  the  dignity 
of  woman.  In  an  age  when  the  minds  of  men  were  turning 
more  and  more  to  the  mystical,  it  was  his  service  to  lead 
them  towards  a  rational  and  thorough  study  of  the  Talmud. 
Out  of  the  diversity  of  varied  practice  he  tried  to  restore 
unity  on  the  basis  of  his  independent  study  of  the  Talmud. 
The  writer  of  Tosafot  and  Responsa  was  a  poet,  too,  and 
many  of  his  poems  are  included  in  the  prayerbooks  of  the 
German  Jews.  For  his  form  he  went  to  the 
poems  of  Judah  Halevi,  and  although  he  is  in  no 
respect  to  be  classed  with  the  great  Spanish  singer,  he  did 
not  lack  warmth  of  imagination  and  depth  of  feeling. 
His  best-known  poem  is  a  dirge  on  the  public  burning  of 
Hebrew  books  in  Paris  in  1244,  when  twenty-four  wagon- 
loads  were  fed  to  the  flames  and  when  a  French  rabbi  wrote 
to  Meir,  "I  have  no  book  for  study.  The  persecutor  has 
taken  from  us  our  treasures."  The  German  rabbi  lamented: 

"Ask,  is  it  well,   O  thou  consumed  of  fire, 

With   those    that    mourn    for   thee, 
That  yearn   to   tread   thy   courts,   that   sore   desire 
Thy  sanctuary, 

"That,  panting  for  thy  land's  sweet  dust,  sore  grieved, 

And   sorrow   in   their   souls, 
And   by  the    flames   of  wasting   fire   bereaved, 
Mourn  for  thy  scrolls, 

"That  grope  in  shadow  of  unbroken  night, 

Waiting   the   day  to   see 

Which  o'er  them  yet  shall  cast  a  radiance  bright, 
And  over  thee?" 

The  great  authority  of  Rabbi  Meir  did  not  cease  with 
his  death.     Men  called  him  "Light  of  the  Exile",  conferring 


Meir   of   Rothenburg  169 

upon  him  a  title  given  else  to  none  but  Rashi  and  Rabbenu 
Gershom.     Upon  the  development  of  the  religious 

His   Influence.  r 

life  of  the  Jews  of  Germany  he  had  a  most  power- 
ful influence.  Nor  was  his  authority  limited  to  the  confines 
of  his  country:  during  his  lifetime  and  for  many  generations 
afterward  his  opinion  was  sought  also  by  Spanish  Talmudists. 
His  greatest  influence  was  exerted  through  his  pupils;  in 
their  works  the  teachings  of  the  master  were  perpetuated. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Back,  S.  R.:     Meir  b.  Baruch. 
Graetz :    Geschichte,  Vol.  VII,  p.  156  ff. 
Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  VoL  III,  pp.  625,  640  ff. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:    Vol.  VIII,  p.  437,  Article  Meir  of  Rothenburg. 
Marshall,   L. :     Rabbi  Meir  of  Rothenburg,    in   The    Menorah,   Vol. 
XL,   No.  4,  pp.   183-192. 


XVII. 
JOSEPH  ALBO. 

During  all  these  dark  and  dreadful  years  of  persecution, 
there  was  just  one  country  in  Europe  of  which  the  Jews 
could  think  with  happy  self-respect.  The  Ger- 
Ige  in°Spain.  man  Jew  might  have  to  endure  his  dingy  ghetto, 
but  he  took  comfort  when  he  thought  of  his 
Spanish  brothers  at  home  in  palaces  almost  regal  in  splen- 
dor. The  German  Jew,  marked  for  scorn  with  a  degrading 
badge,  might  have  to  slink  and  cower  in  the  shadows,  but 
he  took  heart  when  he  remembered  that  in  Spain  the  Jew, 
clothed  in  the  silks  and  satins  of  court  costume,  stood, 
sword  at  side  and  head  erect,  in  the  presence  of  the  king. 
And  the  peddler  under  his  heavy  pack  straightened  his  bent 
shoulders  when  he  let  his  mind  dwell  with  pride  on  the  Jews 
in  Spain, — physicians,  financiers,  statesmen, — high  in  the 
favor  of  rulers,  directing  the  destinies  of  nations.  For  the 
centuries  of  Moorish  rule  in  Spain  had  been,  as  you  remem- 
ber, a  brilliant  period  for  the  Jew.  The  Mohammedan 
Caliphs  had  been  too  broad  in  their  culture  to  let  a  differ- 
ence in  creed  rob  the  Jew  of  his  share  in  the  life  of  the 
country.  And  this  tolerance  the  early  Christian  kings  had 
been  glad  to  continue.  The  Jews  were  their  valued  coun- 
selors and  advisers.  At  nightfall  they  retreated  to  no  ghetto ; 
in  the  full  light  of  day  no  distinction  of  dress  marked  them 
off  from  other  courtiers  in  attendance  upon  the  king.  Re- 
fined and  dignified  in  their  speech  and  bearing,  they  were 

170 


Joseph  Albo  171 

not  to  be   distinguished   from  the   other   Spaniards   among 
whom  they  stood. 

But  the  Jews  were  not  forever  to  enjoy  this  security  and 

wealth,  this  honor  and  power.    The  authorities  of  the  Church 

began  to   look   with   distrust   and  alarm   at   this 

Persecution.  . 

amazing  phenomenon  of  Jews  not  hounded,  Jews 
left  unmolested  in  high  places.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  fanatical  priests  went  about  the  country, 
preaching  impassioned  sermons  to  the  people,  lashing  them 
into  a  fury  against  the  Jews.  They  cried  out  against  the 
stubborn  unbelief  of  the  Jews  and  urged  all  true  believers  to 
hunt  down  the  infidels.  Now  the  Jews  had  many  friends 
in  Spain,  many  well-wishers  who  had  no  desire  to  see  them 
come  to  harm, — many,  indeed,  who  had  the  will  and  the  courage 
to  stand  by  them  and  defend  them  in  their  hour  of  need. 
But  they  had  also  many  dangerous  enemies.  During  their 
centuries  of  peace  and  prosperity,  the  Spanish  Jews  had  for- 
gotten the  face  of  danger.  They  had  become  a  little  arro- 
gant in  their  power,  a  little  ostentatious  in  their  wealth. 
Human  failings,  these,  and  no  great  crimes ;  yet  they  stirred 
up  malicious  envy  and  greedy  hatred.  Many  eyes  had  looked 
with  covetousness  on  the  rich  attire  of  the  Jews,  their  mag- 
nificent palaces,  their  influence  with  rulers.  And  now  all 
this  avarice  and  all  the  bigotry  inflamed  by  the  priests  burst 
savagely  upon  the  Jews  of  Spain.  Over  the  lovely  land 
swept  fire  and  massacre. 

Upon  the  Spanish  Jews  these  storms  broke  almost  with- 
out warning.  There  had  always,  it  is  true,  been  faint  mut- 
terings  of  distrust,  whispers  of  dislike,  but  these  had  been 
clouds  so  faint  that  they  had  cast  scarcely  a  shadow  upon 
the  bright  sunshine.  Now  came  this  bolt  from  a  clear  sky. 
The  Jews  had  felt  so  secure  in  Spain  that  they  were  un- 
prepared for  danger.  They  shrank  in  horror  from  the 
perils  that  their  humbler  French  and  German  brothers  faced 
unflinchingly.  Even  more  terrible,  perhaps,  than  the  quick 


172  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

agony  of  martyrdom  to  these  proud  and  sensitive  Spaniards 
were  the  cruel  edicts,  new  to  them.  They  would  be  stripped 
of  their  robes  of  honor  and  marked  for  scorn  with  a  humil- 
iating badge.  They  would  be  driven  from  their  palaces  and 
herded  in  the  hovels  of  the  Jewries.  They  would  be  robbed 
of  their  practice  of  medicine  and  the  transaction  of  all  dig- 
nified business,  so  that,  knowing  no  other  means  of  gaining 
a  livelihood,  they  would  fall  into  want  and  hear  their  chil- 
dren cry  for  bread. 

But  there  was  one  way  to  escape  this  sudden  and  un- 
foreseen peril.     There  was  a  way  for  the  Spanish  Jews  to 
save  their  castles  and  their  comfort,  their  lives 
Temptation      and  the  lives  of  those  dear  to  them.     They  had 
of  Pretended  oniy  to  renounce  their  faith  and  become  Chris- 

Conversion.          .     ' 

tians!  It  was  a  terrible  temptation.  And  so,  al- 
though the  streets  of  Barcelona  and  Cordova  and  Toledo  ran 
red  with  the  blood  of  those  who  steadfastly  refused  to  aban- 
don their  religion,  many  forsook  the  faith  of  their  fathers 
and  allowed  themselves  to  be  baptized. 

Imagine,  if  you  can,  the  feelings  with  which  these  sons 
and  daughters  of  Israel  went  into  the  Christian  fold!     Im- 
agine the  respect  with  which  these  New   Chris- 

Maranos.  .  ,  ,.    . 

tians,  as  they  were  called,  regarded  a  religion  that 
converted  them  with  the  sword  and  the  firebrand  1  Dazed, 
broken-hearted,  they  loved  the  faith  of  their  fathers  as  ar- 
dently as  when  they  had  been  able  to  practise  it  openly  and 
unafraid.  Abandon  it  entirely  they  could  not.  Crushed  in 
spirit  though  they  were,  they  still  found  means  to  cling 
secretly  to  the  religion  that  they  were  compelled  to  renounce 
in  public.  In  secret  rooms  of  their  homes,  hidden  from  spy- 
ing eyes,  they  kept  their  Sabbaths  and  their  festivals;  they 
read  their  Bible  and  taught  their  children  to  cherish  in 
their  hearts  the  belief  that  they  must  deny  with  their  lips. 
And  this  irksome,  disgraceful  disguise  they  were  quick  to 
throw  off  when  opportunity  came.  Some  escaped  to  neigh- 


Joseph  Albo  173 

boring  Moorish  countries.  There  where  the  people  were 
more  tolerant  than  the  Christians  of  Spain,  they  returned  to 
Judaism  with  increased  zeal,  to  make  atonement  for  their 
enforced  backsliding.  The  greater  number,  however,  were 
unable  to  leave  the  beautiful  country  which  they  loved,  even 
now,  with  a  passionate  devotion.  These  unwilling  converts 
the  people  of  the  land  called  Maranos,  which  means  "the 
Damned;"  and  they  remained  suspected  and  distrusted  by 
the  Christians  and  grieved  over  by  braver  Jews. 

The  sword  and  the  firebrand  were  not  the  only  instru- 
ments of  conversion.  Friars,  crucifix  in  hand,  preached  in 
the  synagogues  to  unwilling  but  helpless  congre- 
Disputations.  gations.  Public  disputations  were  arranged  by 
the  Church  between  Christian  clergy  and  Jewish 
rabbis.  A  few  of  the  Maranos,  in  their  uneasy  ambition  to 
stand  well  with  the  followers  of  the  religion  which  they 
professed,  lent  themselves  to  this  zeal  of  the  Church  for 
making  converts,  and  used  their  knowledge  of  the  literature 
of  their  former  co-religionists  as  a  controversial  weapon 
against  them. 

Towards  the  end  of   1412  the  most  learned  rabbis  and 
students  of  Scripture  in  the  Kingdom  of  Aragon  were  sum- 
moned by  the  king  to  a  religious   disputation  at 

At  Tortosa.       ... 

Tortosa.  A  newly  baptized  Jewish  physician, 
like  the  Pablo  Christian!  who  had  faced  Nachmanides  two 
centuries  earlier,  was  to  prove  to  these  leaders  of  their 
people,  out  of  the  Talmud  itself,  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah. 
Once  the  leaders  had  been  convinced  and  converted,  the  rank 
and  file  would  follow  of  their  own  accord.  Physicians, 
writers,  poets,  men  of  position  and  distinction,  of  piety  and 
learning,  were  chosen.  They  went  in  fear  of  the  worst. 
The  violence  of  continued  persecution  had  robbed  them  of 
the  fearlessness  with  which  Nachmanides  had  stood  forth  as 
the  champion  of  Judaism  against  its  adversaries.  Yet  for 
over  a  year  and  nine  months  the  wearisome  debate  stretched, 


174  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

and  the  Jews,  exhausted  though  they  were,  showed  no  sign 
of  weakening.  All  means  to  beat  down  their  resistance  had 
failed, — the  awe-inspiring  splendor  of  the  audience-hall 
with  its  ecclesiasts  in  jewelled  vestments  and  its  multitude 
of  court  dignitaries;  the  attack  on  Jewish  convictions,  the 
taunts:  the  threats  of  violence  and  of  death;  the  procession 
of  a  wretched  band  of  forced  converts,  paraded  before  the 
eyes  of  the  defenders  of  Judaism  to  press  upon  them  the 
conviction  that  further  persistence  was  in  vain,  since  in  their 
absence  their  congregations  were  falling  away  from  the  faith. 
It  is  no  small  merit  that  the  Jews  at  Tortosa  refused  to 
yield  to  this  pressure.  Not  for  a  moment  did  a  single  one 
waver.  There  followed,  as  was  usual  in  these  cases,  an 
attack  upon  the  Talmud,  and  laws  further  restricting  the 
already  restricted  Jewish  liberties. 

It  was  a  time  of  endless  religious  disputation.     The  war 

of  words  raged  in  audience-hall  and  in  pamphlet.     Tracts 

,   were  written  and  spread  broadcast  by  the  clergy 

Controversial     .  «,-.,.,• 

Literature.  m  which  Judaism  was  attacked  and  Christian 
dogma  was  supported  by  references  to  the  Hebrew 
Bible.  Apostates  from  Judaism  wrote  treatises  in  which 
they  asserted  the  genuineness  of  their  new  religion  and  urged 
the  Jews  to  abandon  the  error  of  their  way.  Now  all  this 
zeal  could  not  but  have  its  influence,  and  it  became  necessary 
for  Jewish  writers  to  point  out  the  essential  and  irreconcila- 
ble differences  between  the  Jewish  and  the  Christian  con- 
ception of  God.  The  more  the  Church  strained  every  nerve 
to  draw  the  Jews  into  its  fold,  the  more  the  synagogue  re- 
pelled the  attacks  on  Judaism,  opened  the  eyes  of  the  ig- 
norant, cleared  the  minds  of  the  confused,  and  strengthened 
the  wavering.  The  men  who,  deeply  impressed  by  the  gravity 
of  this  crisis,  exhorted  their  brethren  to  remain  faithful, 
rendered  a  service  which  it  is  impossible  to  exaggerate.  In 
defiance  of  the  dangers  which  menaced  them,  they  scattered 
their  inspiring  discourses  far  and  wide.  Their  works  were 


Joseph  Albo  175 

not  the  happy  result  of  years  of  calm  and  leisure  and  a  spirit 
untroubled  by  circumstance.  These  men  were  spurred  into 
speech  and  writing  by  the  urgent  need  of  the  time;  what 
they  put  forward  was  to  answer  attacks  and  to  protect  their 
faith  from  danger. 

Foremost  among  the  champions  of  Judaism  at  Tortosa 
was  Joseph  Albo.  As  he  had  defended  the  principles  of  his 
Joseph  religion  against  attack  there,  so  he  felt  the  need 

Albo's  of  showing  his  own  people,  also,  the  grounds  on 

which  he  held  Judaism  the  true  religion  and 
Christianity  spurious.  Accordingly  he  found  it  necessary  to 
investigate  religion  in  order  to  find  by  what  marks  a  divine 
law  may  be  distinguished  from  a  human  law,  and  a  genuine 
divine  law  from  one  that  pretends  to  be  divine.  To  make 
this  investigation  logically  complete,  he  had  to  show  that 
there  must  be  such  a  thing  as  divine  law  and  that  such  a 
law  must  be  founded  on  certain  fundamental  beliefs  or  dog- 
mas. If  one  clearly  knew  these  fundamental  beliefs,  then 
one  could  judge  any  given  law  as  divine  or  human,  genuine 
or  spurious.  Hence  Albo  named  his  book  "Ikkarim",  which 
means  roots;  it  is  a  "Book  of  Roots"  or  of  fundamental 
dogmas,  which  are  the  roots  of  religion  and  without  which 
religion  can  not  exist. 

There  was  something  quite  new  and  original  about  this 
undertaking  of  Albo's.  For  while  it  is  true  that  Maimonides, 

in  his  commentary  on  the  Mishnah,  had  drawn  up 
Predecessor*,  a  list  of  the  articles  of  the  Jewish  creed,  he  had 

not  made  the  establishment  of  such  dogmas  his 
central  theme,  as  Albo  did.  Albo's  teacher,  too,  Chasdai 
Crescas,  had  written  a  book  disputing  Christian  dogma,  and 
in  his  chief  work,  "Or  Adonai",  "The  Light  of  the  Lord", 
he  had  also  devoted  considerable  space  to  the  question  of  the 
fundamental  dogmas  of  Judaism.  Here  he  had  criticised 
Maimonides  on  the  ground  that  he  did  not,  in  his  thirteen 
articles,  distinguish  between  what  was  fundamental  and  what 


176 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


3333      PT  is  PWD 
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pispiwfrjpw    TP6:  pro  Pon3cip|:sPCBTBPin5jiJ3i3i 


Censored  page  from  "Ikkarim"  of  Joseph  Albo.     (Vienna  1521.) 


Joseph  Albo  177 

was  derived.     It  is  this  suggestion  that  Albo  developed,  but 
he  developed  it  in  his  own  way. 

Now  the  investigation  of  the  principles  of  religion,  Albo 
felt,  is  a  hazardous  proceeding.  One  is  in  danger  of  being 

called  a  heretic  if  he  denies  what  others  consider 
Heretics.  fundamental  dogmas.  The  truth,  however,  is  that 

only  he  is  an  unbeliever  who  deliberately  and 
knowingly  contradicts  the  Bible.  A  person  who  believes  in 
the  Bible,  but  is  led  to  interpret  it  mistakenly,  and  to  deny 
real  principles  because  he  thinks  that  the  Bible  does  not 
require  us  to  believe  them,  is  guilty  of  error,  but  is  not  a 

heretic. 

Having  thus  made  clear  his  purpose  and  his  point  of  view, 

Albo  proceeds  to  criticise  the  list  of  dogmas  laid  down  by 

Maimonides  and  modified  by  Crescas.     He  defines 

His  Criticism  J 

of  his  a  fundamental  principle,  an  Ikkar  or  Root,  as  one 

3rs'  upon  which  something  else  depends  and  without 
which  this  latter  could  not  exist.  From  this  point  of  view, 
it  can  be  seen  that  all  the  principles  which  Maimonides  in- 
cluded in  his  thirteen  articles  are  not  fundamental  and  that, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  left  out  beliefs,  such  as  Tradition  and 
Free  Will,  which  are  essential  to  any  divine  religion.  If  it 
be  argued  in  Maimonides'  defense  that  his  intention  was  to 
name  not  only  fundamental  principles,  but  also  all  true 
beliefs,  whether  fundamental  or  derivative,  then  it  is  ob- 
vious that  his  list  is  incomplete,  that  there  are  many  others 
which  he  might  have  mentioned.  Another  writer  counts 
twenty-six  principles,  evidently  including  everything  that 
occurred  to  his  mind.  Still  others  reduce  the  fundamental 
principles  to  six.  To  all  these  lists  Albo's  objection  is  that 
they  do  not  give  us  a  rule  by  which  we  can  distinguish 
between  the  genuine  and  the  spurious  religion. 

Having  shown  the  defects  in  the  attempts  at  lists  of  the 
fundamental  dogmas  of  Judaism  which  had  been  made  by 
his  predecessors,  Albo  looks  for  a  standard  in  order  to  dis- 


178  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

cover  what  principles  a  divine  law  must  have.  He  finds  his 
The  Three  standard  in  the  Law  of  Moses,  which  all  religions 
Principles  recognize  as  divine.  Accordingly.  if  we  examine 

Fundamental  °  to  '  ' 

to  Divine  the  first  four  chapters  of  Genesis,  we  find  in 
Religion.  Chapter  I,  in  the  description  of  creation,  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  existence  of  God.  Chapters  II  and  III  give  evi- 
dence of  the  communication  of  God  with  man  for  the  pur- 
pose of  directing  his  conduct,  that  is,  of  revelation.  Finally, 
in  Chapter  IV,  in  the  story  of  Cain,  we  have  an  illustration 
of  the  third  dogma,  reward  and  punishment.  These  three 
general  principles,  then,  these  Ikkarim  or  Roots,  are  funda- 
mental to  divine  religion. 

Belief  in  these  three  fundamental  principles,  however,  is 
not  sufficient.  One  must  also  believe  in  the  derivative  prin- 
The  ciples  following  from  them.  Thus  from  the  first 

Derivative       root,  the  principle  of  the  existence  of  God,  follow 

Principles.  ^    Q^  unhy  .    ^    H}s   incorpOreaHty  ;    (3)    RlS 

independence  of  time,  and  (4)  His  perfection,  that  is,  His 
freedom  from  defects  or  weaknesses.  The  second  root  prin- 
ciple, Revelation,  embraces  (1)  God's  knowledge,  (2)  His 
appointment  of  prophets  as  instruments  of  divine  Revelation, 
and  (3)  the  authenticity  of  God's  messenger.  Finally,  from 
the  third  root,  divine  retribution,  Albo  derives  Providence, 
in  the  sense  of  special  Providence.  In  all  there  are  eleven 
dogmas.  A  particular  commandment  of  the  Law  is  neither 
a  fundamental  principle  nor  a  derivative.  He  who  trans- 
gresses it  is  a  sinner  and  is  punished  for  his  misdeed,  but  he 
is  not  a  heretic. 

If  a  particular  command  is  not  a  principle,  which  means 
also  that  a  fundamental  principle  is  not  itself  a  command- 
The  warrant  ment»  tne  question  arises  :  Whence  come  these 
of  Experience  principles  and  who  is  to  warrant  their  truth? 

and  Tradition.  js    that    of    ju(jah    Halevi    and    of 


Crescas:  the  principles  of  divine  truth  are  known  by  experi- 
ence.    Adam  knew  of  the  existence  of  God,  of  revelation, 


Joseph  Albo  179 

and  of  reward  and  punishment  from  experience.  Similarly 
Noah  and  Abraham  knew  them.  Nowadays  we  know  by 
tradition,  but  the  majority  of  the  principles  thus  known  are 
so  certain  that  there  is  neither  difference  of  opinion  nor 
doubt  entertained  by  any  one  concerning  them.  Such,  for 
example,  is  the  principle  of  revelation.  Other  principles 
again,  like  the  existence  of  God,  can  be  proved  by  the  method 
of  the  philosophers. 

First,  therefore,  to  find  out  whether  a  religion  professing 
to  be  of  divine  origin  really  is  divine,  it  must  be  examined 
The  Te«t  wJth  reference  to  the  three  fundamental  and  the 
Mewenger  other  derivative  principles.  If  it  opposes  them, 
of  GO<L  it  is  spurious.  If  it  is  not  in  opposition  to  the 
principles  in  question,  it  must  be  further  examined  to  deter- 
mine whether  its  founder  was  a  genuine  messenger  of  God. 
Miracles  and  signs  are  no  conclusive  marks  of  a  prophet, 
and  still  less  do  they  prove  that  the  person  performing  them 
is  a  messenger  sent  by  God  to  announce  a  law.  The  test 
of  the  prophet  and  messenger  of  God  must  be  direct  as  it 
was  in  the  case  of  Moses.  The  people  actually  saw  that 
Moses  was  commissioned  by  God  with  a  message  for  them. 
This  opinion  is  clearly  intended  as  an  answer  to  the  Christian 
claim  that  Jesus  performed  miracles  and  that  therefore  he 
is  the  Messiah. 

In  addition  to  the  three  fundamental  and  the  eight  de- 
rived principles  of  divine  legislation,  there  are  six  dogmas 
which  every  follower  of  the  Mosaic  code  must 

Additional  /  .      . 

DogmM.  believe:  (1)  creation,  (2)  the  superiority  of 
Moses  to  all  other  prophets,  (3)  the  immutability 
of  the  Law,  (4)  the  dogma  that  human  perfection  can  be 
attained  by  obeying  any  one  of  the  commandments  of  the 
Law,  (5)  resurrection,  and  (6)  the  Messiah. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  difference  between  Albo  and 
Maimonides  in  the  question  of  Jewish  dogma  is  simply  one 
of  classification  and  grading.  Albo  includes  in  his  enumera- 


180  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

tion  all  the  thirteen  dogmas  of  Maimonides,  with  the  excep- 

The  Difference  ti0.n    °f    the    fifth'    that    G°d    al°ne    is    to    ^6    WOr- 

between  shipped;  but  instead  of  placing  them  all  on  the 
same  level  of  imPortance  as  equally  essential  to  the 
structure  of  Judaism,  Albo  divides  them  into  three 
categories  of  descending  rank, — fundamental  principles,  de- 
rived principles,  and  true  beliefs.  Of  Maimonides'  list,  the 
last  two,  belief  in  the  Messiah  and  in  the  resurrection,  Albo 
places  in  the  last  category.  Albo  believed  in  both  and  held 
It  incumbent  upon  every  Jew  to  Relieve  in  them,  but  he  did 
not  consider  the  person  who  mistakenly  denied  these  true 
beliefs  a  heretic,  as  he  would  be  if  he  denied  the  existence 
of  God  or  any  other  fundamental  dogma. 

Before  concluding  his  discussion  of  the  fundamental  dog- 
mas of  religion  and  of  Judaism,  Albo  attempts  to  answer  two 
questions  which  must  have  perplexed  many  peo- 

The  Question       ,      .        .  -,..,:  ,     < 

of  Conversion,  pie  in  those  days  of  religious  disputation  and  de- 
bate. First,  is  it  proper,  or  perhaps  obligatory,  to 
analyze  the  fundamental  principles  of  one's  religion  to  see 
whether  they  are  true;  and  if  one  does  so  and  finds  another 
religion  which  seems  better,  is  one  permitted  to  accept  it  in 
place  of  one's  own?  Albo  sees  arguments  on  both  sides.  If 
a  man  is  allowed  to  analyze  religions  and  choose  the  one 
that  seems  best,  it  will  follow  that  he  will  never  be  settled 
in  his  belief,  that  he  will  never  be  sure  of  any  religion.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  he  is  not  allowed  to  investigate  the  foun- 
dations of  his  belief,  it  follows  either  that  all  religions 
alike  bring  happiness,  no  matter  how  contradictory  they  are, 
which  Albo  considers  absurd;  or  God  would  seem  unfair,  if 
only  one  religion  leads  to  happiness  and  no  one  is  allowed 
to  change  his  religion  for  one  that  seems  to  him  more  true. 
This  difficulty  would  be  a  very  real  one,  Albo  tells  us,  if 
all  the  religions  in  the  world  were  opposed  to  one  another 
and  regarded  one  another  as  untrue.  But  this  is  not  so. 
All  religions  agree  in  respect  to  one  of  them.  They  acknowl- 


Joseph  Albo  181 

edge  that  it  is  divine,  but  they  say  that  it  has  been  super- 
seded. Because  of  this,  every  religionist  not  a  Jew  must 
investigate  his  religion  to  see  whether  it  is  justified  in  oppos- 
ing the  religion  that  is  acknowledged  by  all  to  be  divine. 
Similarly  the  Jew  should  investigate  to  see  whether  his 
religion  is  for  a  time  only,  or  for  all  time.  In  this  investi- 
gation he  must  first  see  whether  the  religion  conforms  to 
the  principles  of  divine  religion.  If  it  does,  and  if  in  addi- 
tion it  endeavors  to  order  human  affairs  in  accordance  with 
justice  and  to  lead  its  followers  to  human  perfection,  it  is 
still  possible  that  it  is  the  work  of  a  wise  man  of  good  char- 
acter. It  is  therefore  necessary  to  investigate  the  founder 
and  find  out  whether  he  is  a  genuine  divine  messenger. 

The  other  question  is  whether  there  can  be  more  than 
one  divine  religion.  Since  the  Giver  is  one,  there  can  ap- 
The  Question  P^rently  be  only  one  religion.  But  the  receivers 
of  the  vary  according  to  differences  in  inheritance  and 

oMMonTthui  environment.  Hence  there  may  be  differences  in 
One  Divine  the  divine  law  according  to  the  character  of 
the  people  for  whom  it  is  intended.  These  differ- 
ences, however,  must  be  in  those  elements  which  are  de- 
pendent upon  the  receiver  and  not  on  the  Giver  ;  they  must 
be,  that  is,  in  particulars  and  details,  not  in  principles. 

This  brings  to  an  end  the  first  part  of  Albo's  work  and 

the  only  part  of  his  teaching  that  can  be  called  his  own.    His 

friends,  he  tells  us,  urged  him  to  proceed  further 

The  Rest  of  , 

Book,    and  discuss  in  detail  the  principles,   fundamental 


and  derived,  and  the  true  beliefs  which  he  had 
barely  enumerated  in  the  first  part.  He  therefore  added 
three  sections,  each  devoted  to  one  of  the  fundamental  dog- 
mas. In  these  sections,  however,  he  follows  Maimonides 
and  other  philosophers,  without  suggesting  anything  new. 

Albo's  style  is  easy  and  popular.  He  explains  every 
philosophic  idea  by  striking  and  numerous  illustrations,  and 
this  method,  while  it  makes  him  rather  wordy,  adds  to  the 


182  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

interest   of    his    exposition.     Accordingly,    although   modern 

readers  find  his  arguments  at  times   exceedingly 

Alb0'8  •  -L-    -L     i  v  j     j 

influence  weansome,  his  book  came  to  be  a  standard  pop- 
ular treatise  and  wielded  considerable  influ- 
ence in  shaping  the  religious  thought  of  the  Jews.  Even 
those  critics  who  credit  Albo  with  nothing  original  or  valua- 
ble in  the  realm  of  philosophy,  acknowledge  that  his  "Book 
of  Roots"  marks  an  epoch  in  Jewish  theology. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Graetz :     Geschichte,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  168  ff. 

Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  IV,  p.  239  ff. 

Husik,  I. :     History  of  Mediaeval  Jewish  Philosophy,  pp.  406-27. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  I,  p.  324,  Article  Albo,  Joseph. 

Lea,  H.  C. :    History  of  the  Inquisition  of  Spain,  Vol.  I,  Ch.  3. 

Schechter,  S.:     Studies,  Vol.  I,  p.  171. 

Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  136-148. 


XVIII. 
ISAAC  ABRAVANEL. 

In  1469,  the  marriage  of  the  Infanta  Isabella  of  Castile 
with  Don  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  united  Catholic  Spain  and 
A  United  Save  i"enewe<l  impetus  and  fresh  vigor  to  the 
Catholic  hatred  of  everything  that  was  not  Christian.  The 
Church  had  by  this  time  convinced  the  people  that 
kindness  to  the  Jew  was  a  sin  against  God.  The  old-time 
friendliness  between  Jew  and  Christian  was,  for  the  most 
part,  a  thing  of  the  past.  The  distrusted  Maranos,  who 
lived  in  hundreds  and  thousands  throughout  Aragon  and 
Castile,  were  too  prosperous.  Many  dared  hold  high  posi- 
tions at  court,  in  the  army,  and  even  in  the  Church !  Against 
them,  priests  thundered  from  the  altar  steps,  denouncing 
them  as  apostates  and  stubborn  heretics.  They  called  upon 
the  faithful  to  purify  the  land  from  the  pollution  of  Judaism, 
secret  as  well  as  open.  The  people  believed,  not  without 
cause,  that  the  Maranos  professed  Christianity  with  their  lips 
while  they  despised  it  in  their  souls.  Fanaticism  joined 
with  envy  and  greed,  and  from  the  results  of  these  mingled 
passions  the  Christianity  of  the  converts  did  not  save  them. 
On  the  paltriest  pretexts  their  houses  were  plundered  and 
burned,  and  they  themselves  hunted  to  death  like  wild  beasts. 

Now  for  a  long  time  the  clergy  had  been  persistently 
urging  the  rulers  of  Spain  to  establish  in  their  country  a 
court  that  should  bring  to  trial  Christians  suspected  of 
leanings  towards  Judaism,  and  inflict  upon  them  severe  pun- 

183 


184  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

ishment.     For  many  years,  even  fifteenth  century  Spain  had 
been  reluctant  to  set  in  motion  machinery  so  ter- 
inquisfdon!      rible.       Gradually,    however,    the    preachers    of 
discord  between  Christian  and  Jew  had  worked 
upon  the  Spanish  character,  until  now  it  was  prepared  to 
accept  this  awful  tribunal.     Finally,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
gave  their  consent,  and  towards  the  end  of  1480  the  Inquisi- 
tion was  introduced  into  Spain. 

Now  began  an  era  of  terror.  All  loyal  Spaniards  were 
urged  to  keep  watchful  eyes  on  their  neighbors  and  to  de- 
A  Rei  n  nounce  them  to  the  Inquisition  if  they  seemed 
of  Terror.  guilty  of  the  slightest  lapse  from  the  most  rigid 
adherence  to  Christianity.  All  New  Christians 
were  to  be  regarded  with  suspicion  as  probable  apostates, 
whose  baptism  served  only  to  bring  them  within  the  power 
of  the  Inquisition.  They  might  be  regular  in  church  attend- 
ance and  generous  to  church  and  friar,  and  yet  secretly  be 
followers  of  the  Law  of  Moses.  To  detect  and  punish  these 
apostates  was  the  business  of  the  Inquisition,  and  the  sim- 
plest acts  were  often  accepted  as  proofs  of  guilt.  If  a  Chris- 
tian noticed  that  his  neighbors  put  on  fresh  garments  on 
Saturday,  or  changed  their  table  linen  on  that  day,  or  called 
their  children  by  Jewish  names,  or  blessed  their  children 
without  making  the  sign  of  the  cross,  then  it  was  his  duty 
to  denounce  them  at  once  to  the  Inquisition.  From  the 
hillsides  overlooking  Spanish  villages,  zealots  peered  down 
to  spy  out  the  chimneys  from  which  no  smoke  rose  on  Sat- 
urday. In  the  market-place,  they  lurked  at  Easter  time, 
watching  for  those  who  bought  the  green  herbs  that  might 
deck  some  secret  Passover  table. 

The  unhappy  people  who  fell  under  the  shadow  of  these 

suspicions  were  at  once  seized  by  the  officers  of 

^ecre*  the    Inquisition   and   cast   into   the    dungeons    of 

Arrest.  , 

secret  prisons.     From  the  moment  of  their  arrest 
they  were  allowed  to  exchange  a  word  with  no  one.     They 


Isaac  Abravatvl  185 

could  learn  nothing  of  those  they  held  dear,  nor  could  those 
who  loved  them  learn  of  their  fate.  Once  accused,  they 
were  already  dead  to  the  world. 

Then  came  a  travesty  of  a  trial.     In  modern  courts,  the 

accused  is  assumed  to  be  innocent  until  he  is  proved  guilty; 

in  the  Inquisition,  the  accused  was   assumed  to 

The   Trial. 

be  guilty,  and  the  aim  of  the  judges  was  to  force 
him  to  confess  his  guilt.  Although  there  was  a  pretense  of 
a  desire  for  justice,  the  helpless  victim  was  practically  robbed 
of  every  opportunity  for  defense.  Against  him,  any  one  was 
accepted  as  witness;  for  him,  on  the  contrary,  none  who 
could  be  at  all  serviceable  to  him  were  allowed  to  tes- 
tify, on  the  ground  that  their  evidence  would  be  untrust- 
worthy. Nor  was  he  allowed  to  know  who  had  denounced 
him  to  the  Inquisition  or  who  were  the  witnesses  against 
him.  In  his  pitiable  attempt  to  protect  himself,  he  had  to 
strike  out  blindly  in  the  dark.  Throughout  his  trial,  from 
the  first  arrest  to  the  final  reading  of  the  sentence,  every 
effort  was  made  to  induce  him  to  confess  his  sin  and 
profess  repentance.  Upon  him  were  brought  to  bear  the 
awe-inspiring  solemnities  of  the  trial,  the  horror  of  pro- 
longed imprisonment,  the  threat  of  torture.  If  he  still  proved 
obdurate,  he  was  taken  to  the  torture-chamber,  stripped,  and 
tied  to  the  rack,  while  sharp  cords,  two  on  each  arm  and 
two  on  each  leg,  were  bound  about  him  and  twisted  with 
a  short  lever.  Or  his  hands  would  be  tied  behind  his  back, 
and  then,  with  a  cord  about  his  wrists,  he  would  be  hoisted 
from  the  floor  and  kept  at  tiptoe,  while  his  tormentors  re- 
peatedly admonished  him  to  confess  the  truth.  If  this  failed, 
increasing  weights  were  attached  to  his  feet  and  he  was 
kept  suspended.  Cords  rasped  through  the  flesh  to  the  bone ; 
limbs  were  wrenched  to  the  breaking;  there  was  not  a  part 
of  the  body  that  had  not  its  due  share  of  agony.  If  sinews 
and  nerves  could  withstand  tortures  such  as  these,  then  red 
hot  pincers  tore  the  quivering  flesK 


186  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

The  apostate  who  early  confessed  his  sins  and  was  now 

penitent  could  be  received  back  as  a  loyal  son  of  the  Church 

only  after  humiliating  penance.    He  was  made  to 

The  Penalty.  '  .  .         „  .  , 

appear  in  a  penitential  garment  of  yellow,  with 
a  candle  in  his  hand,  and  publicly  abjure  his  errors.  When 
continued  torture  was  necessary  to  force  a  tardy  confession 
from  the  accused,  scourging  was  a  favorite  penalty  which 
was  mercilessly  employed.  Children  and  women  were  not 
spared.  To  the  Jew,  with  his  keen  sense  of  personal  dig- 
nity, public  flogging  was  a  terrible  disgrace,  and  those  who 
were  condemned  to  it  regarded  death  itself  as  a  mercy. 

When  all  the  efforts  of  the  torturer  failed  to  extort  a 
confession,  then,  if  the  Inquisition  really  believed  that  tor- 
Fate  of    *ure  Proved  anything,  the  accused  should  have  been 
the  Heretic,    held  innocent  of  the  charges  brought  against  him, 
and  he  should  have  been  acquitted.    The  Church, 
however,  condemned  as  an  impenitent  heretic  the  man  who, 
in  the  face  of  what  the  Church  was  pleased  to  call  compe- 
tent testimony,  persistently  denied  his  guilt.     And   for  the 
impenitent   heretic   there   was    no   alternative   save   burning 
alive. 

The  Auto  da  Fe— the  Act  of  Faith— was  the  name  by 
which  the  Spanish  Inquisition  dignified  the  ceremony  of 
The  Auto  burning.  "It  was  an  elaborate  public  solemnity, 
da  FC.  carefully  devised  to  inspire  awe  for  the  mysterious 

authority  of  the  Inquisition,  and  to  impress  the 
populace  with  a  wholesome  abhorrence  of  heresy."  The 
victims  were  marched  on  foot  to  the  public  square,  their 
hands  tied  with  ropes  across  their  breast,  wearing  penitential 
garments  of  yellow,  painted  with  hideous  figures  of  devils 
ind  leaping  flames.  There  at  the  principal  square  of  the 
city  were  two  great  platforms, — one  for  the  victims  and  their 
attendants,  the  other  for  the  Inquisitors  and  other  officials, 
the  clergy  resplendent  in  their  gorgeous  vestments,  with 
banners  and  pennons.  From  the  windows  of  the  houses 


Isaac  Abravanel  187 

surrounding  the  square,  the  notables  of  the  place,  with  their 
families,  looked  down  upon  the  spectacle,  and  the  street 
below  was  packed  with  the  humbler  populace,  eager  to  enjoy 
the  edifying  sight. 

The  proceedings  commenced  with  a  sermon,  preached 
by  one  of  the  Inquisitors  or  by  some  eloquent  friar,  who 
dwelt  on  the  supreme  importance  of  preserving  the  Christian 
faith  in  its  purity  and  exterminating  heresy  and  heretics. 
Then  the  sentences  were  read.  It  was  part  of  the  ghastly 
mockery  of  the  whole  procedure  that  the  Inquisition  itself 
nominally  did  not  execute  the  sentence  of  death,  but  turned 
its  victims  over  to  the  State,  to  secular  justice. 

When  the  sentences  had  been  read,  the  condemned  were 
taken  to  the  place  of  burning,  marched  through  hostile 
crowds,  which,  enraged  by  the  sermon  and  the  ceremony, 
tried  to  stone  the  victims,  and  had  to  be  restrained  by  the 
officials.  At  the  place  of  burning,  the  heretics  were  given 
to  the  flames,  or  if  at  the  last  moment  they  became  penitent, 
they  were  first  strangled  and  then  burned.  To  the  last  breath 
the  friars  exhausted  every  effort  to  bring  about  repentance. 

Even  the  dead  were  not  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. The  bodies  of  proselytes  who  were  suspected  of  hav- 
ing died  in  heresy  were  torn  from  their  graves  and  burnt, 
and  the  possessions  in  the  hands  of  their  heirs  were  con- 
fiscated 

Soon   all    Spain   flamed   with  the  baleful   fires   of   these 

Autos  da  Fe.     Thousands  of  Maranos,   forced  converts  or 

,      descendants  of   forced  converts,  met  their  death 

Torquemada. 

at  the  stake.  Under  Torquemada,  appointed  In- 
quisitor General  in  1483,  the  fell  work  reached  its  greatest 
cruelty.  A  Jew  of  that  time  writes:  "In  these  days  the 
smoke  of  the  martyr's  pyre  rises  unceasingly  to  heaven  in 
all  the  Spanish  Kingdoms.  .  .  .  One-third  of  the 
Maranos  have  perished  in  the  flames,  another  third  wander 
homeless  over  the  earth  seeking  where  they  may  hide  thenv 


188  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

selves,  and  the  remainder  live  in  perpetual  terror  of  a  trial." 
The  Pope  himself  urged  clemency,  and  hinted  that  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  were  actuated  "by  greed  for  earthly  possessions 
rather  than  by  zeal  for  the  faith."  There  was  violent  op- 
position, too,  from  humbler  Christians  whom  all  the  en- 
deavors of  the  Church  had  been  unable  to  turn  into  unre- 
lenting enemies  of  their  Jewish  neighbors.  But  still  the 
cruel  work  went  on. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  there  were  many  men  in  the 

service  of  the  Inquisition  whose  motives  were  not  greed  for 

Jewish  gold,  or  envy,  or  hatred,  or  fiendish  love 

The   Motive.         .,  ,  t       »    ••         »     «  *  •  <         r 

of  cruelty;  men  who  believed  that  this  work  of 
blood  was  work  acceptable  to  God,  the  All-Merciful.  These 
men,  who  regarded  any  difference  from  the  Christian  faith 
as  the  greatest  of  crimes  before  God  and  man,  and  its  pun- 
ishment as  a  pious  duty,  felt  justified  in  any  cruelty.  The 
burning  of  the  impenitent  at  once  avenged  an  offense  against 
God  and  preserved  the  community  from  danger  of  infection 
by  a  heretic.  Their  object  was  the  saving  of  souls:  this 
was  the  duty  to  which  they  felt  themselves  devoted. 

We  must  remember,  too,  that  the  Maranos  were  not  the 
only  victims  who  rotted  in  Inquisition  dungeons,  were  maimed 
jews  not        on  Inquisition  torture-racks,  were  burned  on  In- 
the  Only        quisition  pyres.     Forced  converts   from  Moham- 
medanism   went   the   same    sad    road,    and    even 
Christians   who,   although  they  had  no   drop  of  Jewish   or 
Mohammedan  blood  in  their  veins,  were  suspected  of  enter- 
taining ideas  not  strictly  orthodox,  suffered  the  same  rigor. 
And  yet,  in  spite  of  the  Inquisition,  there  still  remained 
Maranos  in  Spain.     But  they  must  have  known  by  this  time 
that  the  end  was  not  far  distant.     It  was  hastened 
of  Granada,     by  an  event  that  sounded  the  death-knell,  too,  of 
another    faith    on    the    Spanish    peninsula.      The 
Mohammedans    had   been    driven   ever   farther   and    farther 
south,  and  now  the  armies  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  were 


Isaac  Abravanel  189 

storming  their  last  citadel,  the  lovely  city  of  Granada.  After 
a  long  and  bloody  resistance,  this,  too,  fell,  and  in  1492, 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  amid  ringing  of  bells  and  waving 
of  banners,  made  their  entry  into  Granada.  The  Moham- 
medan dominion  in  Spain  "had  vanished  like  a  dream  in  an 
Arabian  Nights'  legend."  Spain  was  a  wholly  Christian 
country 

This  war  against  the  Mohammedans  had  been  of  the 
nature  of  a  crusade  against  unbelief,  of  a  holy  war  for  the 
Tbe  spreading  of  the  Christian  faith.  Now  again  we 

Proclamation  hear  the  fatal  reasoning  of_thc  Crusades.  £~Are 
the  unbelieving  Moslems  to  be  vanquished,  and  the 
unbelieving  Jews  to  go  free  in  the  landTj  Torquemada  had 
long  been  urging  that  the  Jews  shoufd  be  expelled  from 
Spain.  Now  from  the  palace  of  the  Alhambra  in  Granada 
there  was  suddenly  issued  by  their  Catholic  Majesties  a  proc- 
lamation that  within  four  months  the  Spanish  Jews  were  to 
leave  every  portion  of  Castile,  Aragon,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia, 
under  pain  of  death.  The  proclamation  did  not  accuse  the 
Jews  of  usury,  or  of  crucifying  Christian  children;  the  only 
crime  it  set  forth  against  them  was  that  of  remaining  faith- 
ful to  their  religion,  and  of  seeking  to  retain  their  Marano 
brethren  in  their  ancient  faith.  Because  the  falling  away  of 
New  Christians  into  "Jewish  unbelief"  was  encouraged  by 
their  intercourse  with  Jews,  their  majesties  had  resolved  to 
banish  the  Jews  from  the  kingdom. 

The  despair  of  the  Spanish  Jews  was  indescribable.  In 
their  extremity  they  turned  to  one  man  who,  if  any,  could 
save  them.  At  the  very  time  when  Torquemada  was  plot- 
ting the  destruction  of  the  Jews,  a  Jew  occupied  an  important 
post  at  the  court  of  Spain,  and  enjoyed  the  unbounded  con- 
fidence of  his  royal  master.  He  was  just  another  such  man 
as  Chasdai  ibn  Shaprut  had  been  in  the  tenth  century,  and 
Samuel  the  Nagid  in  the  eleventh. 

Don  Isaac  Abravanel  was  born  in  Lisbon,  in  1437,  of  a 


190  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

celebrated  family  of  scholars  and  statesmen.    He  was  given 
a  liberal  education,  and  to  it  he  brought  a  mind 

Don  Isaac 

Abravanei.  clear  and  keen  and  an  ardent  enthusiasm  for 
Judaism.  His  early  years  he  devoted  to  the  study 
of  Jewish  religious  philosophy.  But  it  was  more  as  a  man 
of  action  that  he  shone.  While  he  was  still  young,  he  showed 
so  thorough  an  understanding  of  finance  and  the  affairs  of 
state  that  he  attracted  the  attention  of  Alfonso  V  of  Portu- 
gal. Alfonso  made  him  treasurer  and  consulted  him  on  all 
state  matters. 

His  great  wealth  and  high  position  he  used  in  the  interest 

of  his  king,  his  country,  and  his  people.     His  warm  heart, 

which  beat  for  all  sufferers,  felt  especial  sympathy 

A  Friend  of  , 

his  People.  for  the  Jewish  slaves  whom  his  royal  master 
brought  from  Africa  with  captive  Moors  after  a 
successful  war.  He  set  about  not  only  to  redeem  the  cap- 
tives, but  also  to  clothe  them,  lodge  them,  and  maintain  them 
until  they  were  able  to  support  themselves. 

After  the  death  of  Alfonso,  however,  came  dark  days  for 
Abravanei.  The  new  king,  eager  for  his  great  possessions, 
From  unjustly  accused  him.  Warned  in  time,  Abravanei 

Portugal  fled  to  Spain,  glad  to  escape  with  his  life,  though 
to  Spam.  at  tjie  cogt  Q£  ajj  j^  great  weaith.  At  Toledo, 

welcomed  by  enthusiastic  fellow-students,  he  exchanged  states- 
manship for  the  study  of  the  Torah. 

From  the  midst  of  these  quiet  labors,  however,  he  was 
At  the  called  by  Ferdinand,  who  knew  of  his  ability  and 

Court  of  his  honesty,  to  take  charge  of  the  finances  of 
Spain.  Under  his  care  they  prospered,  and  his 
sovereigns  found  his  wisdom  and  his  prudent  counsel  inval- 
uable. And  here,  as  in  Portugal,  he  was  as  a  wall  of  pro- 
tection to  the  Jewish  people. 

Therefore  when  the  blow  of  banishment  from  Spain  fell 
upon  them,  it  was  to  him  that  they  turned.  And  Abravanei 
left  nothing  undone  to  induce  the  King  to  revoke  the  inhu- 


Isaac  Abravanel  191 

man  decree.  Arguments  and  persuasion  failing,  he  threw 
Abravanel  himself  at  the  feet  of  his  sovereign  and  offered 
pieadi  fa  great  sums  of  gold  to  ransom  his  people  from  ex- 
ile. As  the  avaricious  Ferdinand  wavered,  Torque- 
mada,  the  arch-enemy,  entered  the  presence  chamber,  and, 
with  uplifted  crucifix,  cried:  "Judas  Iscariot  sold  his  mas- 
ter for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  Will  your  majesties  sell  him 
for  thirty  thousand  ducats?  Here  he  is;  take  him  and  sell 
him!"  These  dramatic  words  decided  the  fate  of  the  Jews. 
Abravanel's  plea  was  denied.  Heralds  went  through  the 
whole  country  proclaiming  that  the  Jews  must  leave  Spain; 
that  whoever  of  them  was  found  on  Spanish  soil  after  the 
appointed  time  must  suffer  death. 

Thus  the  Spanish  Jews  were  to  leave  the  land  that  had 
been  their  home  for  centuries,  the  land  of  which  they  might 
Further  well  have  sung,  "Land  where  my  fathers  died," 
for  in  its  soil  rested  their  forefathers  for  at  least 
fifteen  hundred  years.  Thus  they  were  driven 
out  of  the  country  towards  whose  wealth  and  power  and 
culture  they  had  so  largely  contributed.  Stunned  by  the 
blow,  day  and  night  they  wept  at  the  graves  of  their  ances- 
tors. And  when  they  rallied  from  the  first  shock  and  com- 
menced preparations  for  departure,  their  distress  was  in- 
creased by  edicts  that  robbed  them  of  their  possessions  and 
sent  them  forth  almost  penniless.  They  were  permitted  to 
sell  their  great  estates  and  their  fine  houses — but  they  were 
forbidden  to  take  with  them  gold  or  silver.  Accordingly 
they  were  forced  to  barter  their  homes  for  beasts  of  burden, 
their  vineyards  for  a  little  cloth  or  linen.  "Their  syna- 
gogues," a  Christian  scholar  ironically  writes,  "they  were  not 
allowed  to  sell,  the  Christians  taking  them  and  converting 
them  into  churches,  wherein  to  worship  a  God  of  justice 
and  love." 

And  still  there  remained  open  an  easy  way  to  end  all  their 
sufferings.    Friars  beset  them  on  every  side,  preaching  Chris- 


192  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

"We  wm      tianity;  calling  upon  the  miserable  exiles  to  turn 
Go  Forth  in    to  the  cross  for  succor.     If  they  would  only  be 

IheSrT»°f  baPtized>  they  could  remain  in  the  country  to 
which  every  fiber  of  their  being  clung.  But  in 
spite  of  their  terrible  plight,  the  Jews  remained  steadfast. 
Very  few  allowed  themselves  to  be  tempted  by  the  monks; 
and  if  one  of  these  was  a  Jew  high  in  honor  at  court,  it 
is  urged  in  extenuation  that  Isabella,  who  was  loath  to  lose 
his  services,  threatened  if  he  persisted  in  his  faith,  to  adopt 
still  harsher  measures  against  his  people,  and  that  he,  fearing 
the  worst,  submitted.  But  the  converts  were  very  few. 
The  people  encouraged  one  another,  saying,  "Let  us  be 
strong  for  our  religion  and  for  the  Law  of  our  fathers, 
before  our  enemies.  If  they  will  let  us  live,  we  shall  live; 
if  they  kill  us,  then  we  shall  die.  We  will  not  desecrate  the 
covenant  of  our  God;  our  heart  shall  not  fail  us.  We  will 
go  forth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  In  the  whole  range  of 
history  is  there  any  parallel  to  heroism  and  constancy  such 
as  this? 

So  the  holy  soil  of  Spain  was  no  longer  polluted  by  the 

presence  of  a  Jew.    The  very  name  of  the  Jews  died  out  of 

the  country  in  which  they  had  played  so  prominent 

The  Doom  '  r     ' 

of  Spain.  a  part.  Synagogues,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
changed  to  churches.  The  beautiful  synagogue 
of  Toledo,  with  its  Moorish  arches,  its  exquisite  columns, 
its  graceful  proportions,  is,  to  this  day,  transformed  into  a 
church,  a  magnificent  ornament  to  the  city.  In  Seville, 
Granada,  Cordova,  Barcelona,  every  trace  of  the  Jews  was 
lost.  But  was  Spain  happy?  Towns,  bereft  of  their  Jewish 
citizens,  fell  into  insignificance.  The  sick  looked  in  vain  for 
physicians.  Not  only  physicians,  but  also  capitalists,  men  of 
learning,  and  even  farmers  and  artisans  were  lost  to  Spain 
with  the  Jews.  The  people  of  Sicily  complained  that  they 
lacked  craftsmen  capable  of  supplying  farm  implements  and 
equipment  for  ships.  In  spite  of  the  treasures  that  soon 


Isaac  Abravanel 


193 


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194  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

flowed  in  from  America,  Spain  went  gradually  down  to  ruin 
and  disgrace.  Could  those  unhappy  exiles  of  ours  have 
looked  far  ahead  into  the  centuries  to  come,  they  would  have 
seen  a  strange  sight.  They  would  have  seen,  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  proud  Spain  extending  a  hand  of  welcome 
more  than  once  to  the  Jews.  They  would  have  seen,  in  the 
twentieth  century,  during  the  Balkan  war,  Spain  anxious  to 
gain  the  sympathy  of  the  Jews  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  Jews 
descended  from  the  outcasts  of  the  fifteenth  century.  And 
they  would  have  seen  these  descendants  of  theirs  refusing 
to  return  to  Spain.  Memories  of  the  Inquisition  and  the 
exile  still  throb  too  painfully,  even  after  the  lapse  of  over 
five  centuries,  to  permit  the  Jew  with  Spanish  blood  in  his 
veins  to  trust  the  hospitality  of  Spain. 

And  could  those  unflinching  sufferers  but  have  seen  an- 
other sight !    On  the  very  day  after  they  were  thrust  out  of 
Spain,  on  the  third  of  August,  Christopher  Colum- 

The    Tews 

and  the          bus  sailed  to  seek  an  ocean-route  to  India,  and  to 
Discovery  of   discover  a  New  World,  a  world  of  refuge  for  all 

America.  .  ...  »T 

those  oppressed  for  conscience  sake.  Nor  was 
the  expedition  of  Columbus  connected  with  the  Jews  merely 
in  point  of  time.  The  Jews  of  Spain  had  long  been  in- 
terested in  great  exploits  of  this  kind.  They  had  equipped 
and  manned  fleets.  A  Jew  of  Barcelona  "had  navigated  the 
whole  then  known  world,"  according  to  a  record  of  Jaime 
III,  last  king  of  Mallorca,  in  1334.  The  making  of  maps 
had  been  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews.  One 
Tew  was  so  prominent  in  this  art  that  the  people  called  him 
"the  map-Jew."  His  maps  were  highly  prized,  not  only  by 
navigators,  but  also  by  princes  and  kings. 

Columbus  himself  wrote,  "I  have  had  constant  relations 

with  many  learned  men,  clergy  and  laymen,  Jews 
Stance.  and  Moors,  and  many  others."  The  Jewish 

astronomer,  Zacuto  of  Salamanca,  whose  astro- 
nomical tables  always  accompanied  Columbus  on  his  voyages, 


Isaac  Abravanel  195 

declared  in  favor  of  Columbus  and  asserted  his  belief  that 
the  "distant  Indies,  separated  from  us  by  great  seas  and 
vast  tracts  of  land,  can  be  reached,  though  the  enterprise  is 
hazardous."  Distinguished  Spanish  Jews  were  among  the 
first  to  give  Columbus  the  financial  assistance  that  he  required. 
At  that  time  neither  Ferdinand  nor  Isabella  had  enough 
money  to  equip  a  fleet;  and  it  was  Louis  Santangel  who, 
out  of  his  own  pocket,  advanced  the  necessary  funds — nor 
were  the  queen's  jewels  demanded  as  security,  the  popular 
story  to  the  contrary. 

You  will  remember,  too,  that  it  was  not  easy  for  Colum- 
bus to  find  men  willing  to  accompany  him  on  his  perilous 

voyage;  even  prisoners  were  released  from  prison 
Jewish  stock,  on  condition  that  they  join  his  crew.  Is  it  not 

natural,  then,  that  Jews,  under  the  ban  of  expul- 
sion, homeless  and  desperate,  should  enroll  themselves  in 
his  fleet?  Among  the  companions  of  the  explorer  whose 
names  have  come  down  to  us  there  were  several  men  of 
Jewish  stock.  The  ship-physician  and  the  surgeon  were  of 
Jewish  lineage,  and  the  interpreter  was  a  recently  baptized 
Jew.  And  so  Columbus,  fitted  out  with  gold  that  a  Marano 
had  lent  the  King,  guided  by  Jewish  maps,  and  accompanied 
by  Jewish  navigators,  set  sail  for  a  land  which  the  victims 
of  Old  World  persecution  were  eventually  to  find 

".    .    .    bright 
With    Freedom's    holy    light." 

The  exiles,  however,  were  not  cheered  on  their  way  by 

visions  such  as  these.     Before  them  they  saw  nothing  but 

the  utter  degradation  to  which  their  brethren  had 

The  Tragic 

Fate  of  the  been  reduced  in  other  lands,  the  savage  hostility 
that  would  repulse  them  everywhere.  In  Spain, 
although  there  were  many  Christians  who  pitied  them,  no 
hand  could  be  raised  to  help  them,  for  Torquemada  had  for- 
bidden any  Christian  to  hold  any  communication  with  Jews, 


196  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

or  to  give  them  food  or  shelter,  or  to  aid  them  in  any  way. 
So  they  went,  disregarding  the  wealth  they  left  behind, — 
great  and  lowly,  old  and  young;  some  sick,  some  dying. 
Most  of  them  had  tragic  ends,  robbery  and  murder  by  sea 
and  in  the  lands  where  they  sought  refuge.  Many  more 
died  on  the  terrible  journey  from  hunger,  exposure,  and 
sickness.  Their  misery  was  almost  unendurable.  A  rabbi 
whose  father  was  one  of  the  exiles  describes  the  sufferings 
of  his  race.  Some,  he  writes,  were  ripped  open  by  cruel 
men  who  believed  that  they  had  swallowed  their  gold  to 
hide  it;  some  were  consumed  by  hunger  and  the  plague; 
some  were  cast  naked  on  the  isles  of  the  sea  by  the  captains 
of  the  vessels  on  which  they  sailed;  some  were  sold  as 
slaves;  and  some  were  thrown  into  the  sea.  Among  those 
who  were  thrust  out  penniless  at  a  foreign  port  was  a  Jew 
with  his  old  father  and  his  young  son.  And  the  old  man 
was  fainting  with  hunger,  for  they  had  no  bread,  and  in  all 
that  strange  country  there  was  no  one  who  would  share  a 
crust  with  them.  Then  the  younger  man  went  and  sold  his 
son  to  a  baker  for  bread  that  he  might  give  it  to  his  father, 
so  that  the  old  man  might  eat  and  not  die.  And  it  came  to 
pass,  when  he  returned  to  his  old  father,  that  he  found  him 
fallen  down  dead.  And  the  son  rent  his  clothes  for  grief. 
And  he  returned  unto  the  baker  to  take  his  own  son  again, 
but  the  baker  would  not  give  him  back.  And  he  cried  out 
with  a  loud  and  bitter  cry  for  his  son,  but  there  was  none 
to  deliver. 

Few  stories  as  sad  as  this  could  be  told,  however,  of  the 

refugees  in  lands  where  there  were  Jews.     To  prevent  such 

distress  as  this,  the  Jews  all  over  the  world  made 

The  Charity  ,  „  _  i  it. 

of  the  jey»      superhuman  efforts.     In   some  places   they   even 

of  the  soid  the  gold  from  the  synagogue  ornaments  to 

raise  money  to  ransom  Spanish  exiles  who  had 

been  enslaved.    The  sons  of  one  philanthropist  actually  took 


Isaac  Abravanel  197 

up  their  abode  on  the  quay,  so  that  there  would  be  no  delay 
in  providing  for  exiles  who  sought  their  port. 

Those  exiles  who  went  to  Portugal  were  exposed  to  hor- 
rors as  agonizing  as  any  that  they  had  suffered  in   Spain. 
By  order  of  the  king,  Jewish  children  were  torn 

The  Exiles         ,  . 

in  Portugal,  from  their  parents  and  brought  up  as  Christians. 
Soon,  in  1498,  the  Jews  were  expelled  from  Portu- 
gal. Happier,  however,  were  these  exiles  who  went  to  Italy. 
Here  the  Popes  and  the  states  had  for  a  long  time  left  the 
Jews  undisturbed.  Laws  against  the  Jews  existed,  of  course, 
but  in  no  country  were  they  so  frequently  disregarded  as  in 
Italy.  Whatever  the  cause,  whether  it  was  the  superior 
enlightenment  of  the  Italian  people  or  the  internal  dissen- 
sions that  might  well  have  distracted  their  attention  from 
the  less  pressing  problem,  the  Jews  flourished.  In  Dante's 
time,  Immanuel  of  Rome  had  been  the  friend  of  the  great 
poet  and,  himself  a  poet,  had  written  witty,  humorous, 
satirical  verse  in  Hebrew  and  in  Italian.  He  was  the  author 
of  Biblical  commentaries  also,  but  their  sole  value  lay  in 
making  accessible  to  others  his  own  wide  range  of  reading. 
It  is  as  a  poet  that  he  is  remembered,  a  writer  of  light, 
frivolous  verse  which  shocked  the  serious. 

It  was  from  Jewish  teachers  that  Pico  della  Mirandola, 
the  Italian  scholar,  from  whom  the  English  poet,  Edmund 
Spenser,  gained  much  of  his  philosophy,  had  learned  He- 
brew and  Hebrew  literature.  Pico,  it  is  true,  searched 
Jewish  writings  mainly  for  proof  of  Christian  doctrines,  so 
that  the  Jews  might  be  "refuted  by  their  own  books",  but 
in  the  process  he  not  only  learned  Jewish  mysticism,  but  also 
learned  to  find  in  his  Jewish  teachers  honored  friends.  Nor 
were  these  friendships  between  Jewish  scholars  and  Christian 
scholars  at  all  rare  in  Italy. 

So  it  was  that  the  exiles  from  Spain  found  welcome  and 
protection  in  Naples,  in  Ferrara,  in  Tuscany.  Among  them 
was  Abravanel.  At  Naples  he  was  kindly  received  by  the 


198  Jewish  Post-Biblical  Histony 

king  and  was  soon  raised  to  high  office.  After  the  city  was 
taken  by  the  French,  he  loyally  accompanied  his 
unfortunate  king  in  his  flight.  Later  we  find 
him  established  in  Venice,  busy  with  his  scholarly 

work,  laboring  over  his  commentaries  on  the  Bible  until,  in 

1509,  death  ended  his  varied  and  eventful  career. 

This  man,  who  gave  up  wealth  and  position  to  remain 

true  to  his  faith,  became  one  of  the  most  popular  writers 
of  Jewish  literature.  His  profound  knowledge 

Abravanel  r.  r 

the  Author,  of  Talmudical  literature  and  of  secular  learning 
made  him  an  instructive  writer,  and  his  enthu- 
siasm for  Judaism  made  him  an  inspiring  one.  Because  he 
had  mingled  much  with  the  world,  had  seen  history  in  the 
making,  and  had  himself  played  not  an  unimportant  part  in 
shaping  events,  he  brought  to  his  study  of  the  Bible  a  cor- 
rect idea  of  the  influence  of  the  political  and  social  life  of 
a  people  upon  its  literature.  He  recognized  the  value  of 
prefacing  each  book  of  the  Bible  with  an  introduction 
stating  the  character  of  the  work,  the  date  of  composition, 
and  the  author's  purpose  in  writing  it.  In  addition  to  Jew- 
ish sources  of  knowledge,  he  consulted  Christian  commenta- 
tors and  quoted  them.  He  contributed  to  the  study  of  the 
Bible  little  that  was  original,  but  his  self-sacrificing  loyalty 
gave  him  a  far-reaching  personal  influence  over  the  people. 
His  thoroughness  was  appreciated,  also,  by  Christian  schol- 
ars, who  studied  his  works  closely. 

Abravanel  felt  keenly  the  deep  hopelessness  and  despair 
of  the  Jews  throughout  the  world  in  the  years  which  fol- 
_  lowed  the  expulsion  from  Spain.  To  give  them 

Messianic  new  strength  and  hope,  he  emphasized  especially 
Hope*  the  belief  in  the  Messiah.  He  wrote  no  less  than 

three  works  all  devoted  to  setting  forth  the  Jewish  belief  in 
tl^e  Messiah  and  the  Messianic  age.  He  collected  all  the 
Messianic  passages  in  the  Bible,  and  he  also  gave  the  doc- 
trine concerning  the  Messiah  as  he  found  it  in  the  Talmud, 


Isaac  Abravanel  199 

and  the  descriptions  of  the  Messianic  age  as  it  was  pictured 
by  the  rabbis  of  the  Middle  Ages.  These  works  of  his  were 
widely  read,  and  they  accomplished  their  purpose  of  giving 
the  people  renewed  faith  in  a  brighter,  happier  future. 

Of  the  sons  of  Isaac  Abravanel,  the  youngest,  Samuel, 
occupied  an  influential  position  at  the  court  of  Naples.  His 
Samuel  influence  was  due  not  only  to  his  distinguished 

Abravanel.  ancestry,  but  also  to  his  own  fine  qualities.  Of 
his  great  riches  and  his  power  he  made  the  best 
possible  use.  He  was  a  generous  patron  of  Jewish  learning; 
and  his  wife,  through  her  influence  with  the  daughter  of 
the  viceroy  of  Naples,  who  loved  the  Jewess  with  the  devo- 
tion of  a  daughter,  was  able  to  intervene  when  Charles  V 
issued  a  decree  banishing  the  Jews  from  Naples. 

Other  and  greater  figures  loom  up  in  Italy.  There  was 
Elijah  Levita,  the  great  grammarian,  who  died  in  Venice  in 
Distinguished  1549,  after  a  long  life  of  varied  labors.  At 
Italian  jews:  Rome  he  taught  in  the  palace  of  a  cardinal,  at 

Elijah  Levita.  ..      ,    .          ,. 

whose  request  he  produced  a  grammatical  treatise, 
one  of  a  long  succession  of  valuable  works  on  grammar  and 
kindred  subjects.  He  had  the  honor  of  refusing  the  position 
of  professor  of  Hebrew  at  the  University  of  Paris,  offered 
him  by  Francis  I,  because  he  was  unwilling  to  live  in  a 
city  where  his  people  were  forbidden  to  dwell.  He  also 
declined  invitations  from  cardinals,  bishops,  and  princes  to 
become  professor  of  Hebrew  in  Christian  colleges. 

Azariah  dei  Rossi,  born  in  Mantua  about  the  year  1513, 
was  a  man  of  the  highest  intellectual  attainments.  He  had 
...  an  insatiable  longing  for  knowledge  and  was 

Axartah  »          , 

dei  Rossi.  everywhere  regarded  as  a  prodigy  ot  learning. 
He  was  a  student  of  medicine,  history,  and  Jew- 
ish and  Roman  antiquities.  He  was  well  acquainted  with 
Hebrew  literature  and  also  with  Latin  literature,  including 
the  writings  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church.  In  his  work  he 


200  Jewish.  Post-Biblical  History 

followed  scientific  methods  of  investigation  and  showed  an 
original  and  vigorous  mind. 

Then  in  the  sixteenth  century  dark  days  came   for  the 

Jews  of  Italy.     Two  popes,  Paul  IV  and  Pius  V,  devised 

plans  to  drive  the  Jew  from  the  rest  of  the  world, 

Persecutions  . 

in  Italy.  to  set  him  apart  from  his  kind.  Laws  were  re- 
peated that  threatened  with  the  most  severe  pun- 
ishment Jewish  doctors  who  ministered  to  Christian  patients. 
Jewish  books  were  consigned  to  the  flames.  No  longer  could 
Jewish  synagogues  stand  side  by  side  with  Christian  churches. 
No  longer  could  the  palace  of  the  Christian  and  the  mansion 
of  the  Jew  be  neighbors,  and  Christians  hold  friendly  inter- 
course with  their  Jewish  fellow-citizens.  The  Jew  was  to  be 
shut  off  by  himself  because  he  was  a  menace  to  the  com- 
munity, undesirable,  dangerous  to  its  peace.  For  the  good 
of  society  he  was  to  be  ostracized. 

It  was  near  the  iron  foundry  or  geto  in  Venice  that  the 

first  Jewish  quarter  in  Italy  was  established,  in   1516,  and 

from  this  circumstance  probably  comes  the  name 

institution       by  which   the  quarter  is  most  generally   known. 

of  the  The    ghetto    was    not,    however,    exclusively    an 

Ghetto.  __, '       _  J      . 

Italian  institution.  We  find  it  in  other  countries 
under  different  names :  in  England  it  was  the  Jewry ;  in  Ger- 
many, the  Judengasse.  The  brand  that  it  put  upon  the  Jew, 
atrociously  unjust  as  it  was,  was  not  the  only  ill  that  it 
brought  him.  As  time  went  on,  the  population  of  the  ghetto 
grew,  and  yet  its  boundaries  remained  the  same  as  before. 
This  resulted  in  the  most  terrible  overcrowding.  The  ghet- 
tos, moreover,  as  you  may  well  believe,  were  not  situated 
in  the  most  healthful  and  pleasant  parts  of  the  towns.  They 
were  usually  on  the  narrowest  streets,  in  the  poorest  neigh- 
borhoods. In  one  town,  4,000  people  lived  in  190  houses, 
in  a  gloomy  street  so  narrow  that  the  houses  met  overhead 
and  a  wagon  could  not  turn  in  it.  In  the  infamous  Roman 


Isaac  Abravanel  201 

ghetto,  the  Tiber  yearly  overflowed  its  banks,  making  the 
whole  district  a  plague-stricken  swamp. 

Thus  the  Jews  were  set  apart  as  a  race  outside  the  pale 
of  humanity,  shut  out  from  the  world  by  menacing  walls. 
Yet  we  have  to  record  a  humiliation  more  galling  still.  Much 
earlier  than  the  institution  of  the  ghetto,  the  Church  had 
feared  the  danger  of  the  Jew  mingling  freely  with  his  Chris- 
tian fellow-citizens,  so  like  them  in  outward  appearance  that 
even  the  most  pious  and  observant  Christian  might  innocently 
associate  with  a  Jew,  not  being  able  to  tell  at  a  glance  that 
he  was  a  member  of  the  accursed  race.  So  that  the  Christian 
might  no  longer  be  exposed  to  this  source  of  contamination, 
the  Church  had  decreed,  in  1215,  that  Jews  and  Moslems 
must  be  marked  off  from  other  men  by  a  badge  prominently 
displayed.  Sometimes  it  was  a  wheel-shaped  badge,  red, 
yellow,  or  parti-colored,  fixed  upon  the  breast.  Sometimes 
it  was  square  and  placed  upon  the  shoulder  or  the  hat.  In 
some  places  it  was  a  pointed  yellow  cap;  in  others,  a  hideous 
horn-shaped  head-dress,  red  or  green.  Its  common  color 
was  yellow.  But  whatever  its  shape  or  its  color,  the  Jew- 
sign  was  an  invitation  for  the  street  urchin  to  mock  at  its 
wearer  and  pelt  him  with  mud,  a  sign  for  the  rabble  to  fall 
upon  him  and  brutally  beat  or  even  kill  him,  an  opportunity 
for  the  higher  classes  or  society  to  regard  him  as  an  outcast, 
a  pariah.  This  badge  Paul  IV  reintroduced. 

These  two  crowning  humiliations,  "the  ghetto's  plague", 
"the  garb's  disgrace",  as  Browning  called  them,  were  not  all. 
A  method  of  conversion  satirized  by  Browning  in  his  poem, 
"Holy-Cross  Day",  was  forcing  the  Jews  to  attend  sermons 
against  Judaism.  This  forced  attendance,  of  course,  only 
contributed  to  make  the  tormented  people  hold  the  more 
firmly  to  their  own  faith.  Browning  imagined  the  Jew, 
haled  unwillingly  to  the  church  of  his  oppressor,  thinking 
bitterly  of  all  the  ignominy  he  had  to  suffer.  He  represented 
him  as  remembering  a  particularly  brutal  act  of  persecution 


202  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

that  prevailed  for  a  time  in  Rome.  Here,  at  the  time  of 
Lent,  at  least  eight  Jews  were  forced  to  run  foot-races  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  race-course.  Half-clad,  jeered  at 
and  whipped,  they  were  compelled  to  run  until  they  often 
succumbed  to  their  exertions  and  fell  dead  on  the  course. 
Mr.  Israel  Zangwill  gives  a  vivid  picture  of  this  grotesque 
mockery  in  his  "Joseph  the  Dreamer",  one  of  the  stories  in 
"The  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto." 

Yet  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  during  the 

seventeenth,  several  Jewish  writers  attained  fame.     Leon  of 

Modena,  scholar,  rabbi,  and  poet,  was  a  man  of 

Leon  of 

Modena.  brilliant  mentality  but  unstable  character.  His 
fame  as  a  poet  opened  doors  to  him  even  in  the 
highest  circles  of  Venetian  society  and  brought  him  noble- 
men and  archbishops  as  pupils.  His  life  was  checkered  by 
many  trials,  but  he  continued  to  relieve  the  distress  of  others 
and  to  devote  himself  to  his  studies  and  to  his  work  as  a 
writer.  He  wrote  many  books  in  which  he  showed  himself 
an  antagonist  of  rabbinism  and  mysticism.  He  took  the  posi- 
tion that  the  rabbis  of  any  period  have  a  right  to  modify 
Talmudical  institutions.  He  contended,  like  the  Karaites, 
that  the  rabbis  often  followed  the  letter  of  the  Law  to  the 
neglect  of  the  spirit.  He  enumerated  the  laws  which  in  his 
opinion  had  to  be  reformed  in  order  to  bring  later  Judaism 
into  harmony  with  the  Bible.  Among  other  things  he  pro- 
posed the  simplification  of  prayers,  of  synagogue  service, 
and  of  the  dietary  laws.  He  derided  the  Haggadah,  although 
he  conceded  its  moral  teaching;  and  he  threw  his  influence 
against  mysticism. 

Even  more  cultured  and  certainly  more  profound  than 
Modena  was  his   friend  and  disciple,  Joseph   Solomon  Del- 
h  medigo.     Unfortunately  he  was  unsettled  in  his 

Solomon         convictions  and  restless  all  his  life.     He  had  a 
speciai    aptitude    for    mathematics    and    studied 


Isaac  Abravanel  203 

astronomy  under  no  less  a  master  than  the  great  Galileo.    He 
wrote  a  number  of  scientific  works. 

Two  women  of  Italy  deserve  especial  mention,  Deborah 
Two  Ascarelli  and  Sarah  Copia  Sullam.  Deborah 

Celebrated       Ascarelli    lived    in    Venice.      She    wrote    original 
poems  and  also  translations,  which,  although  they 
kept  faithfully  to  their  Hebrew  originals,  were  yet  spirited 
compositions,  full  of  poetic  fire. 

Sarah  Copia  Sullam  was  also  a  poetess.  By  the  time  she 
was  fifteen  years  old,  she  could  read  the  Bible,  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics,  and  the  masterpieces  of  Spanish  literature, 
all  in  the  original  languages ;  and  she  was  known  in  her 
native  Venice  for  her  poems  in  Italian.  This  brilliant  prom- 
ise she  fulfilled  throughout  her  life.  And  added  to  her  un- 
usual gifts  of  mind  were  a  voice  of  rare  sweetness,  musical 
ability,  and  social  charm  and  distinction.  An  epic  poem 
which  a  Genoese  monk  had  written  on  the  subject  of  Esther 
aroused  the  gratitude  of  the  Jewess,  and  she  wrote  to  the 
author.  He,  unfortunately,  was  at  once  filled  with  zeal  to 
win  the  poetess  for  the  church.  But  Sarah  was  firm  in  her 
allegiance  to  Judaism.  At  another  time,  accused  by  a  priest 
of  having  denied  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  she  defended 
herself  in  a  sarcastic  rejoinder  that  showed  her  power  of 
clear  and  logical  thinking. 

But  this  is  looking  far  forward  from  the  time  when  the 
Italian  states,  which  had  earlier  opened  their  gates  to  the 
exiles  from  Spain,  were  closing  them  on  all  Jews,  and  when 
it  seemed  almost  as  though  there  were  to  be  an  end  of  Jews 
in  Christian  Europe. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Abbott,  G.  F. :  Israel  in  Europe,  pp.  196-213. 

American    Israelite    (Cincinnati,    O.),    1862,    pp.    212,    220,    228,    236, 

244.     Contains  a  translation   (incomplete)   of  Abravanel's  Rosh 

Amanah. 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  VII,  Chs.  13,  14. 
Graetz:     History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  IV,  Chs.  10,  11. 


204  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Jewish  Encyclopedia:    Vol.  I,  p.  126,  Article  Isaac  Abravanel. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VI,  p.  587,  Article  Inquisition. 
Lea,  H.  C. :    History  of  the  Inquisition  of  Spain,  Vol.  I,  p.  131C 
Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  149-162. 
Schindler,  S. :     Messianic  Expectations,  pp.  83-101. 


XIX. 
JOSEPH  CARD. 

Most  fortunate  were  those  exiles  from  Spain  and  from 
other  Christian  countries  who  turned  to  Mohammedan  Tur- 
In  key.  Here  the  sultan  exclaimed  in  amazement: 

Mohammedan  "You  call  Ferdinand  a  wise  king!  Why,  he  has 
made  his  country  poor  and  enriched  ours  by 
these  useful  subjects!"  He  saw  that,  exiled  and  impover- 
ished as  the  Spanish  Jews  were,  they  had  lost  none  of  their 
dignity.  Their  sufferings  had  not  broken  their  spirit. 

In  Turkey,  in  spite  of  occasional  persecution,  the  Jews 

flourished.     They  became  merchants  and  artisans,  physicians 

and    teachers,    financiers,    and    statesmen.      And 

Hope   in  .._,..— 

the  East.  soon  the  Jews  of  Christian  Europe,  outcast  and 
despised,  facing  beggary,  exile,  and  death,  heard, 
in  the  extremity  of  their  peril,  a  voice  of  encouragement. 
They  heard  that,  in  the  land  of  the  Crescent,  a  Jew,  who 
would  have  been  burned  at  the  stake  in  the  land  of  the 
Inquisition,  had  risen  to  a  position  of  influence  and  power 
at  court.  They  heard  of  the  love  and  pity  with  which  he 
remembered  his  unhappy  brethren  of  the  West. 

Joao  Miquez,  or — to  call  him  by  his  Hebrew  name — 
Joseph  Nasi,  was  bon.  in  Portugal  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Joseph  Na»i  sixteenth  century,  member  of  a  Marano  family 
Marano  that  had  fled  to  Portugal  from  Spain  during  the 
persecutions  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. To  escape  religious  intolerance  in  Portugal,  Joseph 

205 


206  Jewish.  Post-Biblical  History 

emigrated  to  Antwerp,  where,  in  partnership  with  a  kins- 
man, he  established  an  extensive  banking-house.  He  was  a 
man  of  handsome  presence  and  pleasant  manners,  and  he 
soon  won  the  favor  of  the  nobility,  even  of  Queen  Mary, 
Regent  of  the  Netherlands.  Nevertheless  he  felt  oppressed 
by  the  pretense  of  Christianity  which  he  was  obliged  to  con- 
tinue even  in  Antwerp,  which  was  then  Spanish  ground,  and 
he  determined  to  leave  Flanders  for  Turkey.  With  him  in 
this  enterprise  was  his  aunt,  Gracia  Mendesia,  a  woman  of 
a  greatness  of  mind  and  heart  that  commanded  the  admira- 
tion and  love  of  all.  In  the  face  of  suspicion  and  danger, 
she  contrived  to  furnish  poor  Maranos  with  means  to  flee 
from  the  clutches  of  the  Inquisition.  A  Jewish  poet  of  the 
time  speaks  of  her  as  a  Deborah,  an  Esther. 

With  much  difficulty  the  distinguished  travelers  succeeded 

in  reaching  Venice.     There  Gracia,   in  consequence  of  the 

incautious  statements  of  a  niece,  was  imprisoned 

The  Flight  '  r 

from  Lands  on  the  charge  of  relapse  into  Judaism,  and  her 
of  property  confiscated.  Joseph  spared  no  effort  to 

Persecution.  '  *  TT  i    J     . 

set  his  noble  kinswoman  free.  He  appealed  to 
Sultan  Sulaiman  II  at  Constantinople.  Through  the  sultan's 
court  physician,  a  Jew,  he  drew  the  sultan's  attention  to  the 
advantages  which  Turkey  would  gain  if  the  Nasi  family  and 
other  rich  Jewish  families  should  settle  there.  Joseph  suc- 
ceeded in  inducing  the  sultan  to  embrace  Gracia's  cause. 
Sulaiman  sent  ambassadors  to  Venice  to  demand  the  release 
of  Donna  Gracia  and  the  restoration  of  her  property.  After 
two  years  of  negotiations,  Gracia  was  free  to  proceed  to 
Turkey.  The  next  year  she  was  followed  by  Joseph,  who 
abandoned  forever  his  Christian  name,  publicly  assumed  his 
Hebrew  name,  and  married  Reyna,  the  beautiful,  much- 
courted  daughter  of  Gracia. 

Joseph  came  to  Turkey  like  a  prince,  and  at  the  court  of 
Sulaiman  he  was  soon  taken  into  favor.  He  served  the 
sultan  well  by  means  of  his  wide  acquaintance  with  the 


Joseph  Caro  207 

affairs  of  Christian  Europe,  and  the  sultan  was  not  un- 
A  Refuge  mindful  of  what  he  owed  to  Joseph's  wise  coun- 
for  the  jew§  sel.  Salim,  the  heir  apparent  to  the  throne,  in 

return  for  Joseph's  championship  of  his  cause  to 
his  father,  the  sultan,  bestowed  upon  the  Jew  the  high 
honor  and  emolument  of  membership  in  his  body-guard,  and 
the  sultan  himself  gave  the  Jewish  favorite  a  tract  of  land 
on  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  in  Palestine.  Here  Joseph  planned 
to  found  a  colony  which  should  serve  as  a  refuge  for  the 
oppressed  Jews  of  Europe.  He  issued  a  proclamation  to  the 
Jews  offering  the  protection  of  his  new  Jewish  community 
to  all  the  persecuted  who  were  willing  to  labor  as  farmers 
or  artisans.  Principally  with  money  from  Gracia's  large 
properties,  he  rebuilt  the  walls  of  the  ruined  city  of  Tiberias, 
and  planted  mulberry  trees  so  that  his  colonists  might  raise 
silkworms. 

He  probably  had  especially  in  mind  the  welfare  of  the 
unhappy  Jews  of  Italy  who  had  much  to  endure  under  Pope 
A  Haven  Paul  IV.  Ever  since  his  departure  from  Italy 

he    had    corresponded    with    the    Jews    of    that 

rersecuteo.  •  » 

jews  of  country.  He  knew  their  sufferings.  He  himself, 
moreover,  had  experienced  a  little  of  what  they 
had  to  bear,  and  he  had  the  warmest  sympathy  for  them. 
To  transport  the  emigrants  to  their  new  home,  ships  lay 
moored  in  the  ports  of  Venice  and  Ancona.  The  little  com- 
munity of  Cori,  numbering  about  two  hundred,  took  advan- 
tage of  the  opportunity  in  a  body.  And  when  Pius  V  ban- 
ished all  Jews  from  the  Papal  States,  Turkey  with  its 
princely  Jewish  benefactor  seemed  indeed  the  only  haven. 
After  Sulaiman's  death,  Joseph  rose  to  even  greater 
power.  The  grateful  Salim  made  him  Duke  of  Naxos  and 
A  Power  °^  tne  Cyclades,  twelve  islands  in  all.  Despite  the 
behind  the  hostility  and  intrigues  of  ambassadors  from  Chris- 
tian courts,  he  was  a  personage  of  such  import- 
ance that  great  European  powers  found  it  necessary  to  secure 


208  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

his  good  offices.  In  1566  he  encouraged  the  Protestant 
council  of  Antwerp  to  hold  out  against  the  Catholic  king  of 
Spain,  meanwhile  urging  the  sultan  to  declare  war  on  Spain. 
He  did  not,  however,  succeed  in  obtaining  a  declaration  of 
war  against  Spain,  as  he  did  in  the  case  of  Venice,  from 
which  the  sultan  wrested  the  island  of  Cyprus. 

Joseph  accomplished  nothing  great  or  lasting  for  Judaism, 
but  a  certain  Jewish  interest  attaches  to  him.  At  a  time 
Philanthropist  wnen  tne  panorama  of  Jewish  history  presents 
and  little  but  the  drab  tints  of  grim  suffering,  his 

e  actor,  flguj-g  flashes  across  it,  picturesque  and  romantic, 
full  of  the  vivid  color  of  the  East.  His  scheme  for  the  relief 
of  the  persecuted,  moreover,  was  a  practical  one,  and  he  was 
able  to  render  other  material  service  to  his  people.  He  was 
generous  in  his  support  of  Talmudic  scholars,  and  his  large 
Jewish  library  was  open  to  the  public.  Yet  it  is  not  the 
Duke  of  Naxos,  handsome,  rich,  and  powerful,  who  makes 
Turkey  memorable  in  Jewish  history,  but  men  of  very  dif- 
ferent calibre. 

Joseph  ben  Ephraim  Caro  was  born  in  Spain  or  in  Portu- 
gal, probably  in  Spain,  only  four  years  before  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jews.  When  the  edict  of  exile  came,  the 

Joseph  Caro.  .  ,     . 

parents  with  the  four-year-old  boy  began  their 
wanderings,  and  after  much  suffering  reached  Nicopolis,  in 
European  Turkey.  There  Joseph  received  his  first  instruc- 
tion from  his  father,  Ephraim,  an  eminent  Talmudist.  Nicop- 
olis, however,  seems  not  to  have  had  an  atmosphere  favor- 
able to  the  sort  of  life  that  Caro  wished  to  lead,  for  its 
inhabitants  are  reported  indifferent  to  the  study  of  the  Torah 
and  uncharitable  to  the  poor.  Caro  left  it  for  Adrianople, 
one  of  the  various  gathering-places  of  the  Spanish  exiles. 
Here  he  remained  for  some  years,  serving  as  head  of  the 
Talmudic  college.  It  was  here  that  he  began  the  composition 
of  his  "Beth  Joseph"  or  "House  of  Joseph,"  on  which  he 
was  to  labor  over  twenty  years. 


Joseph  Caro  209 

But  it  was  to  Palestine  that  the  more  spiritual-minded 
among  the  Spanish  refugees  found  their  way.  Like  Judah 
Safed  the  Halevi,  they  looked  with  longing  to  the  Holy 
City  of  the  Land,  although  it  was  in  Safed  rather  than  in 
Jerusalem  that  they  found  a  community  wholly 
to  their  liking.  Accordingly  it  was  not  long  before  Caro 
went  to  Safed,  and  it  was  there  that  he  remained  until  his 
death. 

Safed  is  a  small  city,  situated  on  a  hill  in  the  mountain- 
ous country  of  Upper  Galilee.  Caro  wrote  of  it:  "After 
nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  of  living  in  exile  and  persecu- 
tion, He  remembered  unto  His  people  His  covenant  with 
their  fathers,  and  brought  them  back  from  their  captivity, 
one  of  a  city  and  two  of  a  family,  from  the  corners  of  the 
earth  to  the  land  of  glory,  and  they  settled  in  the  city  of 
Safed,  the  desire  of  all  lands." 

At  Safed  it  was  not  long  before  Caro  was  recognized  as 

the  greatest  authority  upon  the  Law  of  his  time.     All  his 

contemporaries      deferred     to     him.        Students 

A  Teacher 

in  i«raei.  thronged  to  his  academy.  The  great  scholars  of 
Safed  all  did  him  honor.  His  reputation  became 
greater  than  that  of  almost  any  other  rabbi  since  Maimonides. 
When  he  died,  in  1575,  the  mourning  was  general.  The 
works  he  left  are  among  the  masterpieces  of  rabbinical  lit- 
erature. 

One  of  these  works  attained  the  high  honor  of  being  ac- 
cepted as  the  standard  authority  according  to  which  Jews 
Codes  and  a^  over  tne  wor^  regulated  every  detail  of  their 
Codifier«:  the  daily  lives.  For  Joseph  Caro  found  that  the  time 
had  again  come  when  it  was  necessary  to  go 
over  once  more  the  treasures  of  the  traditional  law,  to  ar- 
range them  in  what  might  be  their  final  form.  You  will 
remember  that  there  had  grown  up  in  the  life  of  the  Jewish 
people,  as  indeed  there  grows  up  in  the  life  of  every  people, 
a  living  commentary  on  its  Law,  its  Torah.  It  had  developed 


210  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

in  all  the  Jewish  ways  and  customs,  made  dear  and  familiar 
by  association  with  parents,  hallowed  by  the  sanction  of 
teachers.  It  was  part  of  the  very  being  of  the  Jew.  But 
a  time  came  when  Israel  was  no  longer  one  community, 
living  the  same  life;  there  were  Jewish  congregations  in 
many  places  besides  Palestine.  There  was  danger  that, 
away  from  the  homeland,  amid  people  of  habits  other  than 
theirs,  the  Jews  would  forget  the  customs  of  their  fathers. 
Then,  too,  by  this  time  the  traditions  had  grown  to  propor- 
tions so  great  that  the  memory  of  man  could  scarcely  hold 
them  all.  The  spiritual  heritage  was  threatened,  and  to  save 
it,  it  came  to  be  written  down.  Great  leaders  of  thought 
like  Rabbi  Akiba  and  Rabbi  Meir  were  untiring  in  their 
efforts  to  arrange  in  a  convenient  order  the  vast  material 
of  the  traditional  law.  Rabbi  Judah  ha-Nasi  finished  the 
great  work,  and  the  scattered  people  had  the  Mishnah  to 
guide  them  in  all  their  ways.  The  written  Mishnah  was  in 
turn  explained.  Scholar  followed  scholar,  the  Amoraim 
took  the  place  of  the  Tannaim.  New  problems  arose  and 
were  solved,  new  ideas  were  added.  Then  Rabina  and  Rabbi 
Ashi  drew  together  the  material  added  through  many  genera- 
tions of  new  life,  and  the  Talmud  came  to  be. 

The  Talmud  had  to  be  guarded,  had  to  be  preserved  in 
its  best    form.     This  the   Saboraim   did,   and   they   handed 
their  work  on  in  good  order  to  the  Gaonim.     To 
"Mishneh        them  the  people  turned  for  their  conceptions  of 
Torah."  ^e    traditional    literature,    and    they    studied    the 

Talmud  and  communicated  their  interpretations  to  the  peo- 
ple. A  great  Responsa  literature  grew  up.  Every  new  gen- 
eration brought  new  adaptations  of  the  old  laws ;  every  new 
condition  added  to  the  number  of  commentaries.  The  wealth 
of  material  again  became  bewildering.  Just  as  it  had  been 
necessary  to  write  down  the  Oral  Law,  so  it  now  became 
necessary  to  systematize  all  the  commentaries  upon  it.  The 
Law  had  to  be  codified  so  that  any  Jew  might  find  the  one 


Joseph  Caro  211 

decision  for  which  he  was  searching,  without  going  through 
all  the  many,  many  books.  It  was  Maimonides  who  accom- 
plished this  task.  His  "Mishneh  Torah"  contained  the  whole 
Oral  Law, — all  the  traditions,  all  the  explanations  of  the 
Gaonim  and  the  other  great  teachers,  from  the  conclusion  of 
the  Talmud  to  his  own  time.  It  was  a  brilliant  piece  of 
systematization. 

But  meanwhile,  in  France  and  Germany,  Rashi  and  his 
school  were  interpreting  the  Talmud,  continually  adding  new 
material.  All  this  had  to  be  classified,  and  ac- 
Turim."  cordingly  more  codes  appeared.  Rabbi  Meir  of 
Rothenburg  gave  his  attention  to  codification,  but 
very  little  of  this  part  of  his  work  has  come  down  to  us. 
From  his  school,  however,  sprang  Rabbi  Asher  ben  Jechiel, 
who  tried  to  bring  together  all  the  material  that  had  accumu- 
lated since  the  "Mishneh  Torah."  He,  however,  did  not 
attempt  a  codification.  The  man  who  did  this  was  a  son  of 
Rabbi  Asher,  Rabbi  Jacob.  Rabbi  Jacob  ben  Asher,  who 
was  born  in  1280  and  died  in  1340,  divided  his  code  into 
four  parts,  which  he  called  the  "Four  Rows,"  "Arba  Turim." 
Later  the  code  came  to  be  called  in  short  "Turim"  or  "Tur." 
And  the  "Tur"  soon  became  the  standard  practical  code  of 
law. 

The  "Tur,"  however,  still  left  room  for  doubt.  Two 
hundred  years  had  passed  since  its  completion,  and  new 
The  questions  were  arising  which  demanded  new  an- 

"Schuichan  swers.  A  new  sifting  of  material  and  a  new 
summing-up  became  necessary.  This  task  Joseph 
Caro  took  upon  himself.  His  "Schulchan  Aruch"  or  "Pre- 
pared Table"  is  the  last  of  the  great  codes. 

For  an  undertaking  like  this,  Caro  had  prepared  himself 
by  writing  first  a  commentary  on  the  "Tur,"  "Beth  Joseph" 
or  "House  of  Joseph,"  a  scholarly  work  that  marked  him 
as  one  of  the  greatest  Talmudists  of  all  time.  The  "Beth 
Joseph"  is  a  colossal  compilation,  comprising  four  volumes, 


212  Jewish,  Post-Biblical  History 

and  covering  the  entire  range  of  Talmudical  and  rabbinical 
The  "Beth  literature.  No  other  work  of  its  kind  can  com- 
joseph,"  a  pare  with  it  in  wealth  of  material.  Caro  sums 
for^the*10  UP  and  discusses  no  fewer  than  thirty-two  authori- 
"Schukhan  ties,  beginning  with  the  Talmud.  His  equip- 
ment for  this  gigantic  work  was  his  unsur- 
passed learning,  his  acquaintance  with  the  Law  in  all  its 
branches,  his  methodical  mind,  and  an  independence  of 
thought,  which,  notwithstanding  his  great  respect  for  ancient 
authorities,  prevented  him  from  accepting  their  opinions 
blindly.  But  the  "Beth  Joseph"  was  rather  a  commentary 
than  a  code;  and  Caro,  therefore,  in  his  old  age,  wrote  his 
"Schulchan  Aruch." 

This,  his  main  work,  became  the  code  for  all  Jews  who  live 
according  to  the  rabbinical  law.  In  it  they  found  a  full  and 
complete  statement  of  the  laws  governing  all  their 
"Schulchan  actions  irom  rising  in  the  morning  to  lying  down 
Aruch,"  a  at  night,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  Their 
CodePofeL«w  Prayers»  the  directions  for  their  observance  of 
Sabbath  and  festival, — all  were  here.  Dietary 
laws,  laws  of  property,  marriage  and  divorce  laws,  laws 
of  mourning  and  of  burial, — all  were  included.  No  phase 
of  human  life  was  omitted.  A  man  was  told  how  he  should 
wash  and  eat  and  dress.  He  was  given  the  proper  method 
of  slaughtering  animals  for  food,  of  distinguishing  between 
what  was  fit  for  use  and  what  was  not.  Many  of  these  laws 
anticipate  modern  methods  of  safeguarding  health,  so  that 
through  his  obedience  to  the  precepts  of  his  religion  the 
Jew  was  protected  from  many  ills.  His  manners,  too,  were 
regulated — in  fact,  all  his  manifold  relations  with  his  fellow- 
men.  Laws  of  charity  were,  of  course,  many  and  minute: 
the  poor  were  well  cared  for.  Business  was  regulated: 
absolute  integrity  was  demanded  of  the  Jew  in  his  dealings 
with  every  one,  with  non-Jew  as  with  Jew. 

The  "Schulchan  Aruch"  was  intended  to  be  a  lawbook, 


Joseph  Caro  213 

a  handy  manual,  a  concise  and  convenient  statement  of  the 
its  Ethical  Halachah.  But,  like  all  the  codes  that  came  before 
and  Religious  it,  it  is  illumined  with  the  noble  ethical  and  reli- 
gious teaching  that  is  the  spirit  of  the  Halachah. 
Its  very  first  sentence  is,  "Let  a  man  be  strong  as  a  lion  to 
rise  in  the  morning  for  the  service  of  his  Maker."  This,  an 
echo  of  an  ethical  teaching  from  the  "Sayings  of  the 
Fathers",  "Be  as  swift  as  a  gazelle  and  as  strong  as  a  lion 
to  do  the  will  of  thy  Father  in  Heaven",  becomes  in  the 
"Schulchan  Aruch"  the  Law  of  Rising  in  the  Morning.  The 
Jewish  genius  takes  an  ethical  injunction  and  makes  of  it 
a  law  of  conduct.  Is  there,  in  all  the  world,  another  code 
of  law  that  begins  so  nobly,  that  so  unerringly  indicates  the 
"fountain  light  of  all  our  day",  "the  master  light  of  all  our 
seeing"?  Throughout  his  "Schulchan  Aruch"  the  Jew  saw 
in  all  the  laws  just  so  many  opportunities  to  carry  out  in 
minute  detail  the  will  of  his  Father  in  Heaven. 

To-day  the  Jew  who  rules  his  life  by  the  code  still  goes 
to  his  rabbi  to  inquire  concerning  the  ruling  in  the  particular 
The  problem  which  puzzles  him.  The  rabbi  consults 

"Schulchan      tht    "Schulchan    Aruch"    and    the    commentaries 

Aruch"   To- 
day: Among    which  have  been  wntten  upon  it,  and  communi- 

jews  who       cates   the   decision   to   the    anxious    seeker   after 

Obey  the  . 

Rabbinical       guidance.     In  senous  and  very  complicated  cases 
Code.  the  rabbi  mav  not  be  satisfied  with  his  own  in- 

terpretation. He  will  then  consult  his  colleagues,  and  the 
final  judgment  will  be  that  of  the  greatest  living  scholar. 
Since  the  time  of  the  formulation  of  the  "Schulchan  Aruch" 
this  interpretation  has  not  ceased.  New  conditions  continue 
to  bring  new  problems,  and  the  "Schulchan  Aruch"  must  be 
made  to  apply  to  the  questions  of  the  new  day.  But  a  new 
code  there  has  not  been,  nor  has  there  been  another  codifier. 
To  the  Jews  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  "Schulchan 
Aruch"  was  an  absolute  necessity.  The  laws  it  formulated 
were  the  only  laws  to  which  they  could  appeal.  From  the 


214  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

standpoint  of  the  law  of  the  countries  in  which  they  lived 
they  were  homeless  outcasts,  with  no  rights  that 

Among  Jews 

who  no          the  law  would  recognize.    Accordingly  they  them- 
Longer  selves,  as  a  community,  had  to  keep  the  law  for 

Consider  the  J 

"Schuichan     themselves,  according  to  their  own  code.    We  shall 
Aroch"  see    however,  in  almost  all  the  countries  of  the 

Necessary. 

world,  in  time  a  tardy  justice  done  the  Jew. 
We  shall  see  him,  almost  everywhere,  considered  no  longer 
an  alien  in  the  land  to  which  he  gives  his  allegiance,  but  a 
citizen,  having  the  rights,  as  he  has  the  duties,  of  his  neigh- 
bor who  is  of  the  faith  of  the  majority.  The  Jew,  therefore, 
as  citizen  of  the  land,  obeys  the  law  of  the  land.  And  many 
Jews  consider  that  they  have  no  further  need  of  the  "Schui- 
chan Aruch." 

But  there  was  another  and  a  more  interesting  side  to  the 
character  of  Joseph  Caro.  The  opening  sentence  of  his  code 
The  Great  shows  us  that  the  great  lawyer  and  codifier  was 
Lawyer  also  a  man  of  extreme  piety  and  profound  religious 
a  Mystic.  feeling.  And  because  his  mind  dwelt  on  the  study 
of  the  Mishnah,  because  he  was  passionately  devoted  to  its 
teachings,  it  became  for  him  a  living  reality,  a  mentor,  a 
guardian  angel.  In  the  depths  of  the  night,  after  he  had 
labored  long  over  the  Mishnah,  he  would  think  that  he  heard 
its  voice,  like  the  voice  of  a  mother,  directing  and  guiding 
him  in  all  the  affairs  of  life. 

The  recollection  of  all  that  the  Angel  reyealedJo_jMm  he 

woulc!  writedown  in  a  sort  of  mystical  diary  which  records 

the    spiritual    experience    of    a    long    liYeT    The 

His  Mentor f—      K .  , ft       '    • 

Angd.  Angel  wag  vfiry  ^artjngr  in  its  demands.      I  am 

rtl»_tTlftthfr  tha*  '•hastisfp  her  children",  it  pro- 
cl§imed.  "Be  strong  and  cleave  unto  me."  It  Jaid^upon 
him  injunctions  to  lead  an  ascetic  life.  It  bade  him  fast 
frequently  and  never  fully  satisfy  his  desire  for  food  and 
drinkj  even_in  the  first  meal  after  a  day  of  fa^Hng1.  It 
warned  him  against  too  much  sleep.  One  time,  after  the 


Joseph  Caro 


215 


marriage  banquet  of  one  of  his  daughters,  Caro  slept  until 
just  one  hour  after  the  breaking  of  dawn;  for  this  slothful 
behavior  the  Angel  reproved  him.  It  instructed  him  never 
to  speak  an  idle  word;  to  be  exceedingly  lowly  in  spirit; 
never  to  be  betrayed  into  anger.  It  reminded  him  of  the 
necessity  of  reading  devotional  books,  especially  Bachya's 
"Duties  of  the  Heart."  Andjt  particularly  urged  him  to 
devote  himsell  m"™  dilig'^y  fq  the, 


In  the  promises  of  the  Angel  all  the  aspirations  of 
Caro's  devout  heart  found  expression.  As  a  scholar,  he 
was  ambitious  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  Torah:  his 
An^eL  promised  him_Jjint  h?  w^nld  he  worthy  _fco  preside 
ovenjbe-  great  cot  gathering  of  disciples  in  Israel.  As  a 
mystic,  he  longed  for  ^nrflmunion  in  the  world  tr>  gomp  with 

the  SOUls   ofjjeartpfl    S?;"flr    whnc"   infPrt-Pfpr  \\f-   WQC   in 


his  Angpl 


him  n  fntw?  of  sn^h 


He 

yearned  to  settle  in  the  Holy  Land:  his  Angel  promised  to 
help  him  realize  that  wist}.  It  was  the  Angel  that  urged 
him  to  leave  Nicopolis  for  the  Holy  Land.  Abnv&  all,  hp 

*0  ^1'^  thp  ^p^^  of  a  martyr.     The 


Angel  said,     Behold  I  have  singled  thee  out  to  be  a  burnt- 

offering  to  be  cflflfimnprl  i'p  tire  for  the  S^Kf  n(  tVip  ganrfi- 
^cati^^  qf  [hf  j^atno"  —  Rni-  \\\tf  as  there  was  no  blemish  in 
the  offering  the  pious  worshipper  brought  tojthe  Temple 
alfaf~tcrtjie  service  Of  hirT?od7so  there  must  beno  slightest 
inip£rfection  in  the  life  which  the  martyr  lays  down.  And 
the  AngePaccordingly  added:  "Thou  knowest  tha^t  in  the 
burnt-offering  no  blemish  may  be  found,  not  even  in  thought. 
Hence,  take  care  that  all  thy  thoughts  are  absorbed  in  the 
Torah."  The  voice  of  the  Angel  was  thus  always  an  in- 
spiration to  Caro  to  walk  in  the  path  of  perfect  piety. 

so    he    dig!,    student    nf    the,    ^aw    and 


methodical,  he 


devoted  to  the  Halachah,  but  his  heart  and  his  soul  he  gave 


216  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

to  the  Cabala.  He  wrote  the  last  code  of  rabbinical  Judaism; 
he  recorded  the  spiritual  experiences — the  yearnings  and  the 
visions — of  a  mystic. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

JOSEPH  NASI 
Gottheil,  G. :    A  Hebrew  Statesman  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  in  the 

New  Era,  Vol.  V,  No.  4,  1875. 
Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  IX,  p.  339  ff. 
Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  IV,  p.  596  ff. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  IX,  p.  172,  Article  Nasi,  Joseph. 
Kauffmann,  D. :    Don  Joseph  Nasi,  in  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  Vol. 

II,  p.  221;  IV,  p.  509. 
Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  179-189. 

CARO 
Gaster:     The   Origin  and   Sources  of   the  Shulchan  Aruch,   in   the 

report  of  the  Lady  Judith  Montefiore  College,   1893. 
Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  IX,  p.  284 ff. 
Graetz :    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  IV,  p.  537  ff. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:    Vol.  Ill,  p.  583,  Article  Caro,  Joseph. 
Lea,  H.  C. :    History  of  the  Inquisition,  Vol.  I,  Ch.  3. 
Schechter:     Studies,  Second  Series,  p.  210  ff. 
Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  190-201. 


XX. 

ISAAC  LURIA. 

Safed  reached  its  greatest  glory  in  Isaac  ben   Solomon 

Luria.     He  was  born  in  Jerusalem  in  1534,  the  descendant 

of    a    famous    German    family,    which    had   been 

His  Youth.  .  ,       /    .„  , 

dnven  from  its  native  land,  like  many  others, 
by  the  cruelty  of  persecution.  The  boy  Isaac  was  a  wonder- 
child.  At  the  age  of  eight,  he  was  considered  a  marvel  of 
learning.  About  this  time  his  father,  Solomon,  died;  but 
the  boy's  education  was  continued  by  a  wealthy  uncle  in 
Cairo,  to  whom  the  widow  went  with  her  son.  The  uncle 
adopted  the  boy  as  his  own  and  placed  him  under  the  best 
Jewish  scholars.  Isaac  was  a  diligent  student,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  he  became  master  of  all  rabbinical  learning. 
But  Isaac  Luria.  was  one  of  those  souls  that  can  not  be 
satisfied  with  the  knowledge  whr*1  ™™»g  +krr>iiprVi  method- 

ical reasoning  find  ^nh^r,  1r>piVil  thi'tiL-ing      They 


Myiticism  have  a  burning  desjre.  to  «n1v<»  all  tfrq  rifles  of 
the^jiniKe^se.  They  long  for  intimate  personal 
knowledge  nf  Ood.  —  Thry  nrr  nbgorbrr*  by  a  passion  for 
fellowship  with  Him,  fnr  nninp  with  Him  fry  the  contact  of 
sPJrit  ""tVl  T1'*-'*  —  Thl'Q  p1pmf-nt  of  mysticism  is  present  in 
all  religions.  In  Judaism  it  goes  back  to  a  dim  antiquity. 
It  is  as  olfl_a.g  fh*  ^iH^f  partQ  ftf  \fro  Ki'hlg  —  It  flnws,  on 
rpnfnnV<^  in  varvingr  degrees  of  intensity.  It 
i:t"-ntnrf  nf  the  Jew  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


his    ritua^    Kic    ""^rghip        T^f    pV"'1nc0pViPr    fn'^p    fft    cnlirfl    the 

217 


218  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

problems  that  beset  him  by  an  effort  of  the  intellect,  but  the 
mystic  follows  the  guidance  of  his  heart  and  soul.  These 
fell  hlttt  that  It  Is  not  impossible  ior  mortal  man  to  enter  into 
the  divine  mysteries.  Let  him  but  gain  possession  of  all 
religious  knowledge — let  him  observe  scrupulously  all  the 
commandments  of  the  Law — let  him  lead  a  life  of  stainless 
purity  and  holiness — then,  by  prayer  and  fasting,  let  him 
free  himself  from  all  consciousness  of  the  outer  world — and 
he  will  enter  into  a  state  of  ecstacy  in  which  he  will  see 
heavenly  visions  and  learn  the  solution  of  all  that  had  per- 
plexed him.  The  state  of  mind  for  which  he  strove  is  not 
unlike  the  mood  called  up  by  Wordsworth: 

"That  blessed  mood, 
In  which  the  burthen  of  the  mystery, 
In  which  the  heavy  and  the  weary  weight 
Of  all  this  unintelligible  world, 
Is  lightened: — that  serene  and  blessed  mood, 
In  which  the  affections  gently  lead  us  on, — 
Until,  the  breath  of  this  corporeal  frame 
And  even  the  motion  of  our  human  blood 
Almost  suspended,  we  are  laid  asleep 
In  body,  and  become  a  living  soul: 
While  with  an  eye  made  quiet  by  the  power 
Of  harmony,  and  the  deep  power  of  joy, 
We  see  into  the  life  of  things." 

These  breedings  of  the  mystics  sometimes  led  them  into 

imaginings  that  seem  unlovely,  even  repulsive,  to  minds  and 

its  Defects     nearts   IGSS    passionate    than   theirs.     They   were 

and  ita  sometimes  beguiled  into  beliefs  that  seem  curious, 

*^riu-  perhaps  childish.     They  tried  to  pierce  the  veil 

i      f^that  covered  the  secrets  of  the  place  and  time  of  the  future 

\  redemption ;  they  devised  modes  of  calculating  the  years  with 

v       }  a  view  to  ascertaining  the  time  of  the  Messianic  kingdom. 

^»  /    They  believed  in  the  magic  power  of  the  Ineffable  Name  of 

*— -.God.     They  attempted  to  read  in  the  stars  the  secrets  of 

destiny.     They  accepted  the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration 


Isaac  Luria 


219 


of  souls.  But  it  is  a  one-sided  and  incomplete  estimate  of 
mysticism  that  seizes  upon  these  elements  and  leaves  out  of 
account  its  true  poetry,  its  spirituality,  its  sublimity. 

Jewish  mysticism  tried  to  solve  all  the  problems  of  lifeT 
It  brooded  on  God,  the  world,  creation,  man,  revelation,  sin, 
atonement,  the  Messiah.  How  was  it  possible,  for  example, 
that  God,  the  All-holy,  the  All-perfect,  could  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  imperfect  world?  The  mystic  tried  to  bridge 
this  chasm  between  a  pure  God  and  an  impure  world.  An- 
other thought  on  which  the  mystic  mused  was  the  Fatherhood 
of  God.  In  that  relationship  he  found  a  promise  of  the  com- 
munion he  aspired  to  with  One  who,  awe-inspiring  in  His 
power  and  majesty,  was  at  the  same  time  tender  and  full 
of  compassion  and  mercy. 

This  was  the  mystic  doctrine  in  which  Isaac  Luria  be- 
came interested,  and  he  abandoned  himself  to  its  study.  It 
receives  the  name  Cabala,  which  means  literally 
"the  received  or  traditional  lore",  because  each 
doctrine  was  thought  of  in  terms  of  its  antiquity,  to  be  traced 
back  to  the  Prophets  or  to  Moses  at  Sinai.  It  had  had  its 
charm  for  the  scholarly  mind  and  warm  heart  of  Nachman- 
ides.  It  had  held  out  hope  of  comfort  to  Isaac  Abravanel  in 
the  bitterness  and  despair  of  exile.  It  had  its  powerful 
appeal  for  Joseph  Caro.  And  now  it  found  in  Isaac  Luria 
its  chief  interpreter. 

The  main  object  of  hh^tndy_jifn'»  thg  "Tiohnr"     This 
was  the  tKXl-book  of     ewishmediacval  mysticism^     Its  title 


came  from  the  third  verse  of  the  twelfth  chanter 

'    •     '      -  -  •  - 


Cabala. 


The   Zobar. 


mystics  : 


of  the  Book  of   Daniej^ 
"And  fhey  tf1^  hf>  «"cp  ^n 


ness  of  the  firmament."  In  form  the  "Zohar"  is  a  com- 
mentary on  the  Pentateuch.  Indeed,  in  j^  way  all  Jewish 
mptjcism  is  an  attempt  to  pierce  through  the  w^fllpg  ***  fhp 

;fTTrUffrti  its  most  intimate  meam'nfr,     The 
-ieaditnat  man.  hirinr  thn  niiil 


tri 


f  1i  In  Mi 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

everywhere  the  Divine  image— the  whole  world  being  an 
embodiment  of  God— can,  if  he  will,  make  his  way  to  the 
invisible  Author. 

To  understand  these  hidden  mysteries,  Luria  withdrew 
from  the  distractions  of  the  world.  On  the  banks  of  the 
The  Nile  he  built  himself  a  shelter,  and  here  he  lived 

Asceticism       an  ascetic,  secluded  life,  given  up  to  fasting  and 

praying.  Thus  he  lived  for  seven  years.  He  re- 
turned to  his  family  in  the  city  only  for  the  Sabbath,  even 
then  speaking  but  rarely.  By  reason  of  this  complete  ab- 
sorption in  meditation  upon  the  holy  mysteries,  he  believed 
that  he  at  last  reached  the  degree  of  being  worthy  of  com- 
munion with  the  prophet  Elijah,  who  initiated  him  into  the 
sublime  doctrines.  He  believed  that  every  night  his  soul, 
freed  from  all  earthly  fetters,  ascended  to  heaven  and  con- 
versed with  the  great  teachers  of  the  past. 

In  obedience  to  what  he  believed  was  a  command  from 
Heaven,  he  left  Egypt  and  went  to  Palestine,  where,  after 

a  short  sojourn  in  Jerusalem,  he  settled  in  Safed. 

There  he  found  "men  of  wisdom  and  understand- 
ing", among  them  Joseph  Caro.  And  there,  in  that  city  of 
great  scholars  and  great  mystics,  his  personality  gave  him 
an  overwhelming  influence.  The  people  called  him  "the  holy 
man"  and  "the  Divine  Cabalist."  The  great  Talmudists  and 
mystics  accepted  him,  first  as  a  colleague,  later  as  a  master. 
In  Safed  he  taught  the  "Zohar",  imparting  its  doctrines 
to  his  disciples  after  they  had  made  the  proper  preparation 

for  such  higfh  and  holy  instruction.    For  the  mys- 

A  Teacher  '  •       L    j    «•   vi 

of  Cabala.  tic  doctnne  was  not  to  j»e  communicated  lightly. 
To  novices  Luria  expounded  only  elementary 
Cabala,  and  even  to  the  small  circle  of  his  trusted  pupils 
he  was  reticent  about  the  most  secret  mysteries.  Nor  could 
his  disciples  ever  prevail  upon  him  to  put  his  teachings  into 
a  book  for  the  benefit  of  posterity. 


Isaac  Luria  221 

The  natural  accompaniment  to  this  "high  thinking"  was 
"plain  living."  And  Luria  led  a  very  simple  life,  dressing 
••Plain  Living  very  plainly  and  spending  very  little  on  himself, 
and  High  He  was  scrupulous  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  com- 

Ihmking.  , 

mand  to  pay  the  workman  on  the  very  day  on 
which  he  has  performed  his  task.  He  was,  of  course,  very 
charitable. 

Anger  he  declared  to  be  the  source  of  all  evil.    No  man 

should  be  betrayed  into  anger  against  either  Gentile  or  Jew, 

L^  a          not  even  when  he  has  been  robbed  or  insulted. 

Condition        The  mind  should  always  remain  calm.     Love  was 

Hoiinew"1      one   of   the  conditions   which   he  prescribed    for 

perfect  holiness,  "love  of  all  creatures,  including 

non-Jews."    Luria  himself  was  careful  not  to  kill  any  living 

creature,  not  even  a  worm.     This  may  have  been  a  result 

of  his  belief  in  the  transmigration  of  souls,  which  peopled 

the  lower  forms  of  creation  with  the  souls  of  the  wicked. 

Prayer  was  to  Luria  one  of  the  main  functions  of  life. 

According   to   him   there   is   no   prayer   in    which   man,   by 

reason  of  close  communion  with  God,   does  not 

of  the  Main    become  the  receptacle  of   new   Divine   light  and 

FfUIL-tf°n8       a  new  outfl°w  °f  Divine  mercy.     For  him  every 

word   of   the   prescribed   prayers,    every   syllable, 

every   letter,   had,    besides   its   literal   meaning,    its   mystical 

significance. 

In  this  way  Luria,  in  common  with  other  mystics,  gave  a 
spiritual  meaning  to  every  act  of  the  whole  life  of  man. 
A  Spirit-  Just  as  ^e  Talmudist  found  nothing  in  the  range 
uaiization  of  human  affairs  that  was  outside  the  province 
of  Life.  0£  the  Torah,  so  the  Cabalist  found  nothing  that 
could  not  be  spiritualized.  For  the  Jew  of  that  time,  Caro 
with  his  legal  code  was  the  authority;  Luria  with  his  mystic 
holiness  was  the  model. 

Luria  died  in  1572.     His  favorite  disciple,  Chaim  Vital, 


222  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

collected  notes  of  his  lectures  and  produced  numerous  works 
Luria's  claiming  the  authority  of  Luria's  teaching.     His 

influence.        influence  was  marked,  too,  in  the  devotional  works 
which  echoed  his  austere  nature  and  made  exact- 
ing demands  upon  the  religious  capabilities  of  man. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Abelson,  J.  :    Mysticism. 

Abrahams,  Israel:    Judaism,  p.  67. 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  IX,  p.  390  ff. 

Graetz  :    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  IV,  p.  618  ff. 

Hirsch,   S.  A.:     Jewish  Mystics  —  An  Appreciation,  in  Jewish  Quar- 

terly Review,  Vol.  XX,  p.  50. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VIII,  p.  210,  Article  Isaac  B.  Solomon, 

Ashkanazi  Luna. 
Schindler,  S.  :    Messianic  Expectations,  pp.  118-134. 


XXI. 
SABBATAI   ZEVI   AND   OTHER   FALSE   MESSIAHS. 

There  was  another  note  emphasized  in  the  mystic  doc- 
trine which  dominated  the  heart  and  soul  of   Isaac   Luria. 

on    which    the    "Zohar"    re- 


The  Hope 

for  a  peatedly    dwells    is   the   coming   of    the    Messiah. 

This  was  the  hope  that,  throughout  all  the  long 
centuries  of  persecution,  strengthened  the  Jews  in  their  faith. 
This  lightened  the  gloom  and  made  the  darkness  a  promise 
of  the  dawn.  The  greater  their  misery,  the  stronger  became 
their  confidence  that  the  reign  of  injustice  must  end  and 
God's  kingdom  be  established  on  earth.  They  turned  to 
their  Bible  and  drew  consolation  from  the  pictures  of  the 
future  that  they  found  there.  In  the  earlier  prophets  they 
read  of  a  happy,  prosperous  Israel  returned  to  its  homeland, 
reunited  under  a  glorious  descendant  of  the  house  of  David. 
Later  prophets  inspired  them  with  visions  of  a  world  at 
peace,  the  nations  beating  "their  swords  into  plowshares,  and 
their  spears  into  pruninghooks,"  and  flowing  to  Zion  to  learn 
of  God's  ways. 

Isaiah  of  the  Exile  brought  them  his  message  of  lov- 
ing comfort  and  taught  them  to  see  in  their  sorrows  only 
the  means  of  purification,  so  that  they  might  become 
worthy  of  their  mission  —  to  be  a  light  to  the  Gentiles  and 
a  blessing  to  the  world,  the  Suffering  Servant  through  whom 
the  salvation  of  the  world  should  come.  And  in  Jeremiah 

223 


224  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

they  found  the  lofty  conception  of  a  mankind  grown  perfect 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord  and  in  the  love  and  practise 
of  good:  "Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I 
will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house  of  Israel,  and 
with  the  house  of  Judah.  ...  I  will  put  My  law  in  their 
inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts.  .  .  .  And  they 
shall  teach  no  more  every  man  his  neighbor,  and  every  man 
his  brother,  saying,  Know  the  Lord:  for  they  shall  all  know 
Me,  from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith 
the  Lord." 

But  there  were  times  of  darkness  and  misery  so  pro- 
found that  the  gleam  of  a  far-distant  future,  however  sub- 
The  Longing  ^me>  COUW  not  pierce  the  clouds.  The  tortured 
for  the  people,  desperate  in  their  suffering,  cried  out  for 

a  nearer,  warmer,  more  human  hope.  In  their 
grief  and  bewilderment,  they  turned  from  the  prophets  of 
large,  clear  vision  to  the  mystics  and  the  dreamers.  They 
had  suffered  so  much  and  so  long;  surely  redemption  must 
be  at  hand;  surely  God  would  come  quickly  to  save  His 
people.  In  Palestine,  when  the  yoke  of  the  Romans  had 
seemed  too  heavy  to  bear,  the  Jews  had  longed  for  a  Deliv- 
erer. Men  who  aspired  to  be  the  saviours  of  their  people 
had  headed  desperate  outbursts  against  Rome,  had  failed, 
had  been  crucified  as  rebels,  and  forgotten.  Still  in  their 
dire  need  the  people  had  hoped  for  a  Redeemer,  a  Messiah. 
In  those  days,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  had  announced  himself  as 
the  Expected  One.  But  the  Jews  as  a  whole  had  not  be- 
lieved in  him,  had  rejected  him.  Their  Messiah  was  to 
usher  in  an  age  of  peace:  Jesus  left  a  world  drenched  in 
blood.  His  followers  had  come  to  identify  him  with  God, 
a  doctrine  unthinkable  to  Judaism;  and  so  what  had  begun 
as  a  Messianic  movement  within  Judaism,  had  broken  off 
and  had  become  a  new  religion.  Later,  again  under  Roman 
oppression,  the  hope  for  redemption  had  led  some  Jews  to 
hail  Bar  Cochba  as  Messiah.  But  the  light  of  the  "Son  of 


Sabbatai  Zevi  and  Other  False  Messiahs          225 

a  Star"  had  been  quenched  in  darkness.     And  still  the  af- 
flicted people  hoped  on. 

Sometimes  their  hope  clung  pathetically  to  one  wholly 
unworthy  of  it.  Such  a  one  was  the  Kurdistan  adventurer, 
David  Alroy,  who  lived  about  1160.  Alroy,  tak- 
ing advantage  of  the  condition  of  unrest  which 
the  Crusades  had  caused  in  the  East,  raised  the  banner  of 
revolt  against  the  Sultan,  and  called  upon  the  oppressed 
people  of  Israel  to  acknowledge  him  as  their  Messiah  and 
under  his  leadership  to  throw  off  the  Moslem  yoke.  He 
promised  that  he  would  lead  them  triumphantly  into  the  Holy 
City,  where  he  would  be  their  King  and  they  would  live  in 
freedom  forever.  Many  were  convinced  of  the  truth  of  his 
pretensions.  Many  joined  him  in  an  attack  upon  the  citadel 
of  his  native  city  in  Kurdistan.  What  followed  we  do  not 
definitely  know.  Every  old  record  tells  a  different  story. 
It  is  probable  that  the  attack  failed  and  that  Alroy  was  put 
to  death.  The  old  legends  that  gathered  about  this  pictur- 
esque personality  are,  however,  full  of  interest.  They  rep- 
resent the  adventurer  as  a  wizard,  intimately  versed  in 
magic  arts.  Through  his  magic  he  escaped  from  the  dun- 
geon into  which  he  had  been  cast  by  the  Sultan.  Audaciously 
he  made  his  appearance  in  the  very  presence  of  the  Sultan 
and  his  councilors ;  but  when  they  attempted  to  seize  him, 
he  made  himself  invisible  and  again  escaped.  Following  his 
voice,  the  Sultan  and  his  nobles  found  themselves  halted  at 
the  banks  of  a  river,  there  to  see  the  bold  rebel,  who  had 
now  made  himself  visible,  miraculously  crossing  the  water 
on  a  shawl,  and  escaping  from  their  grasp.  On  the  same 
day  he  returned  to  his  native  town,  accomplishing  in  one 
day  a  journey  which  took  common  men,  not  endowed  with 
magic  power,  ten  days.  Now  the  Sultan  threatened  to  put 
to  the  sword  all  the  Jews  of  his  dominion  if  Alroy  were  not 
surrendered  to  him.  Seriously  alarmed,  the  Jewish  authori- 
ties pleaded  with  Alroy  to  abandon  his  pretensions.  He, 


226  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

however,  was  obdurate;  and  at  last  the  Mohammedan  gov- 
ernor took  the  matter  into  his  own  hands  and  ordered  Alroy's 
father-in-law  to  put  an  end  to  him  while  he  slept.  This  is 
the  end  of  the  legends,  but  it  is  not  the  end  of  Alroy's  in- 
fluence. Even  his  death  did  not  wholly  destroy  the  belief 
of  his  deluded  followers  in  their  sorry  hero.  Lord  Bea- 
consfield,  in  his  novel,  "The  Wondrous  Tale  of  Alroy,"  has 
thrown  about  this  impostor  a  romantic  glamour  which  keeps 
alive  the  interest  in  the  Kurdistan  pretender. 

As  time  went  on,  there  grew  up  about  the  hope  for  the 
future  a  host  of  mystical  legends  that  helped  to  keep  the 
people  who  believed  in  them  in  a  world  of  dreams, 

These  Cabalistic  doctrines  exercised  a  fascination  on  even 
so  clear  and  practical  a  thinker  as  Don  Isaac  Abravanel, 
The  Spell  of  wno»  to  comfort  the  Spanish  exiles  in  their  ap- 
tbe  Mystic  palling  misery,  emphasized  the  speedy  coming  of 
the  Messiah;  and  Manasseh  ben  Israel,  a  man 
of  unusual  culture,  devoted  himself  with  zeal  to  the  fur- 
thering of  the  Messianic  hope.  Christians  as  well  as  Jews 
felt  the  spell  of  the  mystic  promise;  so  that  Manasseh  did 
not  hesitate  to  urge,  in  his  letter  to  the  English  Parliament, 
that  the  readmission  of  the  Jews  into  England  would  hasten 
the  Messianic  era. 

Everywhere  visionaries  appeared.  In  Portugal,  a  Marano 
maiden,  fifteen  years  of  age,  had  visions  in  which  the  Mes- 
siah revealed  himself  to  her  and  promised  to 

Visionaries.  _  .^  ,    , 

come  soon  to  redeem  the  Jews.  Encouraged  by 
her  prophecy,  unfortunate  Maranos  threw  off  their  pretended 
Christianity  and  proclaimed  themselves  as  Jews.  The  de- 
luded girl  and  her  followers  were  burnt  at  the  stake.  From 
the  far  East  came  David  Reubeni  with  a  message  to  the 
Christian  rulers  of  Europe,  to  obtain  arms  to  wrest  Palestine 
from  the  Moslems'  grasp.  The  Jews  were  profoundly  im- 
pressed when  they  saw  him  received  graciously  by  Pope 
Clement  VII  and  entertained  royally  by  the  King  of  Portu- 


Sabbatai  Zevi  and  Other  False  Messiahs  227 

gal.  Diogo  Pires,  a  New  Christian,  handsome,  talented,  of 
high  position,  returned  to  the  faith  of  his  fathers,  and,  under 
the  name  of  Solomon  Molcho,  preached  Messianic  ideas  until 
he  gave  up  his  life  in  the  fires  of  the  Inquisition.  It  was 
this  enthusiast  who  filled  Joseph  Caro  with  the  longing  to 
be  "consumed  on  the  altar  as  a  holy  burnt-offering",  to  sanc- 
tify the  name  of  God  by  a  martyr's  death. 

And  still  Israel  dreamed  of  a  near  deliverance.  "The 
Kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand,"  the  Cabalists  insisted.  In 
.  ..  .  Turkey  there  was  a  youth  to  heed  this  cry.  Sab- 

Sabbatai  t_         •    T      •  «  •        i-\  •<  x'^,'         i-« 

Zeri  batai  Zevi  was  born  in  Smyrna  in  1626.  From 

childhood  he  was  a  solitary  and  saintly  boy.  His 
favorite  study  was  the  Cabala.  Its  mysteries  he  pondered 
day  and  night.  Prayer  and  self-discipline  were  his  pleasures. 
He  lived  a  life  apart,  secluded  and  ascetic.  On  winter  mid- 
nights he  would  plunge  into  the  icy  waters  of  the  harbor 
Day  after  day  he  would  fast.  And  while  he  afflicted  his 
body,  his  mind  was  in  a  state  of  constant  religious  medita- 
tion and  spiritual  ecstasy.  This  wonderful  youth  the  Jews 
of  Smyrna  regarded  with  wistful  hope.  A  reverent  band 
of  followers  gathered  about  him,  and  to  them  he  would  speak 
of  the  mysteries  of  the  Cabala  and  the  glories  of  the  King- 
dom to  come.  He  dominated  them  with  the  asceticism  of 
his  life,  the  noble  spiritual  beauty  of  his  face,  the  majesty 
of  his  tall  figure,  and  the  solemn  music  of  his  voice. 

To  Sabbatai,  poring  over  the  promises  of  the  Zohar,  came 
rumors  that  Christians,  too,  were  expecting  the  speedy  com- 
ing of  the  Kingdom.  His  father  was  the  agent  of  an  English 
house,  and  from  him  Sabbatai  heard  of  the  Puritan  hope  of 
a  Messiah  of  the  Jews.  What — Sabbatai  must  have  thought 
—what  if  he  himself  were  the  Expected  One?  What  if  he 
were  the  Messiah  designated  by  God  to  restore  Israel  to 
freedom  and  glory? 

In  1648,  Sabbatai,  then  in  his  twenty-third  year,  an- 
nounced himself  to  his  disciples  as  the  long  hoped  for  Mes- 


228  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


He  Proclaims  ***&•  **e  ^d  this  ^  uttering  the  dread  Name 
Himself  the  of  God,  the  Four-Letter  Name  forbidden  by  the 
Messiah.  reverent  usage  of  centuries.  According  to  Cabal- 
istic interpretation,  this  was  an  act  of  mystic  importance:  it 
signified  that  the  Messianic  era  had  begun. 

Sabbatai  had  many  devoted  adherents,  but  those  who  be- 
lieved  in   him   were   outnumbered   by   those   who   did    not. 

When  news  of  his  daring  pronunciation  of  the 
Banished.  Ineffable  Name  came  to  the  ears  of  the  rabbis 

of  Smyrna,  they  laid  the  ban  upon  him  and  his 
disciples.  After  further  disagreement  and  disorder,  the  au- 
thorities banished  Sabbatai  from  Smyrna. 

He   wandered   through   the   Orient,    everywhere   gaining 
new  followers,  everywhere  encountering  lessening  opposition. 

His  kingly  presence,  his  persuasive  voice,  his  fast- 

He  Gains          .  ,  .  ,  . 

Followers.  mg  and  praying  won  him  adherents.  Constanti- 
nople acclaimed  him;  so  did  Salonica,  where  he 
gained  a  great  following,  but  where  his  mystic  rites  so 
shocked  the  rabbis  that  they  banished  him  from  the  city. 
He  went  to  Jerusalem,  hoping,  perhaps,  that  in  the  sacred 
city  a  miracle  would  take  place  to  confirm  him  as  the  Mes- 
siah. And  ever  the  circle  that  gathered  about  him  increased 
in  numbers  and  in  warmth  of  devotion. 

And  now  a  strangely  beautiful  Jewish  girl  escaped  from 

a  nunnery  in  Poland.     She  had  been  taken  there  as  a  little 

child  in  the  terrible  days   of   the  Cossack   mas- 

the  Messiah,    sacres,   leaving   her   parents    dead   in   the   blood- 

stained streets.     In  a  dream  she  had  heard  her 

martyred  father  proclaim  her  the  bride  of  the  Messiah  who 

was  soon  to  appear,  and  she  wandered  through  the  world 

in  quest  of  her  great  destiny.    When  Sabbatai  heard  of  her, 

he  sent  for  her,  and  they  were  wedded.    Her  queenly  beauty 

gained  for  him  thousands  of  new  followers. 

At  last,  in  the  great  synagogue  in  Smyrna,  to  the  sound 
of  the  blowing  of  the  ram's  horn,  Sabbatai  publicly  announced 


Sabbatai  Zevi  and  Other  False  Messiahs  229 

himself  as  the  Messiah.  The  frenzied  multitude 
Gone°Mad.  cried  in  their  joy,  "The  Kingdom  has  come! 

Blessed  is  the  Messiah!"  The  news  spread 
through  the  world.  All  Turkey,  Italy,  Germany,  Holland, 
distant  England  heard  of  it.  Not  only  the  ignorant  masses, 
but  even  men  of  culture  and  judgment — rabbis,  leaders  in 
the  community — saw  in  Sabbatai  the  fulfillment  of  their 
hope.  Christians,  too,  believed  in  him  as  the  Messiah  of  the 
Jews.  Everywhere  men  and  women  prepared  themselves  for 
the  Kingdom,  fasting  for  days  upon  days;  lashing  their 
bodies  in  an  agony  of  sel f -mortification ;  plunging,  like  Sab- 
batai, into  the  purifying  waters  of  the  winter  sea;  rolling 
themselves  naked  in  the  snow.  Business  was  at  an  end. 
Jewish  merchants  sold  out  their  wares  for  a  song.  Every  one 
made  ready  for  the  return  to  Jerusalem.  Those  who  dared 
to  doubt  that  Sabbatai  was  the  Messiah  were  almost  torn 
to  pieces  by  the  hysterical  mob.  And  besides  self -discipline, 
alms-giving,  and  prophetic  ecstasy,  there  was  a  dark  under- 
current of  immorality,  because  of  the  mystical  doctrine  that 
in  the  time  of  grace  the  Law  would  be  transcended.  Now 
that  this  time  had  come,  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
Torah  were  no  longer  binding.  Fast  days  were  transformed 
into  days  of  rejoicing,  for  now  that  the  Messiah  had  come, 
lamentations  must  be  changed  into  songs  of  joy. 

Sabbatai    now    confidently    set    out    for    Constantinople, 
where,  according  to  the  prophecy  of  one  of  his   disciples, 

the  crown  was  to  be  taken  from  the  Sultan's 
in  Prison.  head  and  placed  upon  his  own.  On  his  arrival, 

however,  officers  of  the  Sultan  met  him  and  put 
him  under  arrest.  Instead  of  arriving  in  Constantinople  in 
pomp  and  princely  splendor,  he  came  in  chains  and  was 
housed  in  a  prison.  But  whether  as  triumphant  King  or 
as  Suffering  Servant,  he  was  still  the  Messiah  to  his  ardent 
adherents.  About  him  was  still  the  atmosphere  of  the  mys- 
terious and  the  supernatural.  Even  the  Moslems  were  im- 


230  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

pressed,  and  Sabbatai  won  a  large  Turkish  following.  His 
dungeon  became  a  throne-room.  The  story  of  the  homage 
paid  him  by  Mohammedans  as  well  as  Jews  spread  abroad. 
In  the  castle  at  Abydos,  to  which  the  distinguished  prisoner 
was  transferred,  he  held  royal  court.  The  world  heard  and 
wondered. 

The  Sultan,  usually  quick  to  slay,   was  in  a  quandary. 

To  put  an  end  to  Sabbatai's  pretensions  by  killing  him  would 

be    dangerous.      He    would    fall    as    a    martyr, 

A  Test  for  ,  °  .    ._.  ,  . 

the  Messiah,  beloved  by  Jew  and  Turk,  and  his  death  would 
mark  the  rise  of  a  new  and  troublesome  sect. 
No,  the  Messiah  must  be  robbed  of  his  glamour.  Accord- 
ingly the  Sultan  demanded  of  Sabbatai  a  miracle.  Stripped 
naked,  he  must  present  himself  as  a  mark  for  the  archers; 
then,  if  he  were  proof  against  their  arrows,  he  would  indeed 
be  recognized  as  the  Messiah.  But  if  he  refused  this 
miracle,  a  self-confessed  impostor,  he  should  die  a  shameful 
death  by  torture,  scourged  through  the  streets  with  burning 
torches.  He  could  save  his  life  only  by  becoming  a  Mo- 
hammedan. 

What  a  struggle  must  have  raged  in  Sabbatai's  soul! 
Was  he  Messiah  or  was  he  mortal  ?  Should  he  become  Turk 
-  ..  ,  .  or  martyr?  He  found  in  himself  neither  the 

Sabbatai  J 

Fails  to  Meet  faith  to  face  the  arrows,  confident  in  his  divinity, 
nor  the  nobility  to  go  forth  bravely  as  a  martyr 
to  a  painful  death.  He  cast  off  his  Jewish  garb  and  placed 
upon  his  head  the  Turkish  turban.  For  ten  years  he  vacil- 
lated miserably,  a  Turk  among  Turks,  suspected  of  being  a 
Jew  among  Jews,  until,  in  1676,  he  died,  a  lonely  exile  in 
a  little  Albanian  town. 

When  the  rumor  of  his  apostasy  spread  through  the 
world,  the  delirious  rapture  of  those  who  had  believed  in  him 
The  Effect  was  succeeded  by  the  most  bitter  shame.  Men 
of  his  were  prostrated  by  the  terrible  shock.  Many, 

Apostasy.        however,  desperate  at  the  thought  of  losing  the 


Sabbatai  Zevi  and  Other  False  Messiahs  231 

great  hope  that  had  lightened  the  night  of  their  exile,  still 
clung  to  Sabbatai.  They  persuaded  themselves  that  his  con- 
version must  be  part  of  the  Messianic  scheme.  And  so,  even 
after  their  leader  had  miserably  failed  them,  the  dreamers 
in  Israel  dreamed  on.  Many  more,  utterly  disillusioned  and 
disheartened,  their  faith  shaken  beyond  recovery,  turned,  like 
Sabbatai  himself,  to  Mohammedanism  and  were  lost  to 
Judaism. 

Nor  did  the  wretched  ending  of  Sabbatai's  pretensions 
prevent  others  from  proclaiming  .themselves  as  the  Expected 
One.  Some  of  them  were  sordid  impostors,  who, 
^or  their  own  g3*11*  wilfully  deluded  the  people 
with  a  hope  that  they  knew  to  be  false.  Others, 
dazzled  by  constant  communion  with  the  mysteries  and  ecsta- 
cies  of  Cabalistic  literature,  actually  believed  in  their  divine 
mission.  A  sorry  line  of  impostors  and  fanatics  followed 
Sabbatai.  The  last  of  them  was  an  unscrupulous  adventurer 
who  wrought  much  mischief.  This  was  Jacob  Frank,  of 
Galicia,  who  taught  the  dangerous  doctrine  that  all  the  Mes- 
siahs who  had  risen  had  been  true  Messiahs.  Jesus,  Mo- 
hammed, Sabbatai  Zevi — all  of  them  in  turn  had  possessed 
the  soul  of  the  Messiah,  which  was  now  incarnate  in  Frank 
himself.  Frank  eventually  renounced  all  the  laws  of  Judaism 
and  went  over  to  the  Catholic  Church,  taking  with  him  thou- 
sands of  his  followers.  Indeed,  it  is  a  significant  fact  that 
these  Messianic  movements  led  always  away  from  Judaism; 
that  they  all  ended,  not  in  increased  devotion  to  the  faith, 
but  in  falling  away  from  it. 

But  neither  shabby  trickster  nor  self-deluded  mystic  could 
besmirch  the  beautiful   ideal,   the   noble  aspiration  towards 
salvation  and  perfection.     That  was  the  essential 
vtli"8"     hope— the  belief  in  tne  perfectibility  of  the  human 
race.     That  was  the  larger  vision — Isaiah's,  Jere- 
miah's  picture  of   a   world  at  peace,   an   age  of   universal 
righteousness  and  justice,  when  all  men  shall  recognize  that 


232  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

God  is  One  and  His  Name  is  One.  Different  centuries  in- 
terpret it  differently.  In  times  of  kings  and  princes,  the 
image  of  a  gracious  Prince  of  Peace  seems  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  ideal.  He  is  the  figure  that  will  lead  the 
world  to  regeneration  and  salvation.  In  days  of  ever- 
widening  democracy,  the  conception  changes  from  an  ideal 
person  to  an  ideal  commonwealth,  with  perfect  conditions 
for  the  perfect  life,  with  social  justice,  with  world- wide 
brotherhood.  To  this  end  the  world  strives.  And  to  this 
end  Israel  is  undyingly  true  to  its  God-given  mission,  to  be 
God's  messenger  and  witness:  "I  the  Lord  have  called  thee 
in  righteousness,  and  will  hold  thine  hand,  and  will  keep 
thee,  and  give  thee  for  a  covenant  to  the  people,  for  a  light 
of  the  Gentiles;  to  open  the  blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the 
prisoners  from  the  prison,  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness 
out  of  the  prison  house."  This  is  the  hope  of  Israel.  There 
may  be  many  differences  of  belief,  but  they  are  only  in  the 
details;  the  essential  all  agree  upon — the  hope,  unshaken 
through  the  centuries,  that  God's  day  will  dawn,  that  "the 
earth  shall  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea." 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Abbott,  G.  F.:    Israel  in  Europe,  pp.  167-178. 

Adler,  E.  N. :    Jews  in  Many  Lands,  p.  146  ff. 

Graetz :    Geschichte,  Vol.  X,  Ch.  7,  and  Note  3,  p.  428. 

Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  V,  p.  18. 

Greenstone,   Julius    H. :     The  Messiah  Idea  in  Jewish  History. 

Jewish   Encyclopedia:     Vol.   XI,  p.   218,   Article   Shabbethai  Zebi  b. 

Mordecai. 
Schindler,   S.:     Messianic  Expectations,  pp.    101-117,   134-152. 


XXII. 

MANASSEH  BEN  ISRAEL. 

In  spite  of  the  exile  of  the  Jews  from  Spain,  there  were 
still  left  in  the  land  Maranos,  many  of  whom  hid  a  secret 
Brave  Little  ^ut  ar^ent  Judaism  under  the  mask  of  Catholic- 
Holland,  ism.  But  these  Maranos,  even  those  great  in 
wealth  and  high  in  position,  found  themselves  in 
a  very  evil  plight.  The  fires  of  the  Inquisition  had  not  died 
with  Torquemada;  under  Philip  II,  the  gloomy  fanatic  who 
married  Queen  Mary  of  England,  they  flamed  up  again, 
and  all  the  worst  horrors  of  the  Inquisition  were  revived. 
The  Maranos  felt  that  their  only  safety  lay  in  flight.  But 
where  could  they  flee?  Turkey  seemed  very  distant  and 
strange  to  them ;  England  and  France  were  still  barred  to 
them;  Germany  was  cruel;  in  Italy  the  Popes  were  hostile. 
There  was  only  brave  little  Holland,  where  the  sturdy 
Protestants  had,  in  a  heroic  war,  thrown  off  the  intolerable 
yoke  of  Spain,  and  gained  for  themselves  national  and  re- 
ligious independence.  The  Dutch,  who  had  gained  this  price- 
less boon  for  themselves,  were  not  unwilling  to  share  it  with 
others.  William  of  Orange,  the  father  and  founder  of  the 
Dutch  republic  (the  Dutch  kingdom  of  today),  devoted  his 
days  and  nights,  sacrificed  his  princely  fortune,  and  risked 
his  life  for  the  establishment  of  the  great  principle  of  tolera- 
tion in  matters  of  conscience.  In  an  age  of  the  greatest 
bigotry  he  conceived  the  thought  of  religious  freedom,  and 
under  his  guidance  Holland  became  the  home  of  that  liberty 

233 


234  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

of  conscience  which  is  the  grandest  proof  of  the  progress 
of  the  human  race. 

In  Holland  the  fugitives  from  Spain  and  Portugal  were 

warmly  and  generously  received.    The  Dutch  welcomed  them 

and  made  friends  of  them.     And  the   Tews,   on 

A  New  .  J 

Jerusalem.  their  part,  were  such  immigrants  as  any  country 
might  well  be  proud  to  gain.  They  brought  many 
advantages  to  the  Netherlands.  They  brought  their  great 
wealth  and  their  trade  with  the  Indies.  And  they  were  not 
traders  and  financiers  only — these  wanderers  to  whom  the 
Dutch  opened  their  doors;  they  were  scholars  with  the  cul- 
ture of  centuries,  physicians  skilled  in  healing,  and  states- 
men wise  and  loyal.  In  the  free  air  of  the  Netherlands  they 
eagerly  threw  off  the  disguise  of  Christianity  and  hastened 
to  establish  themselves  as  open  and  declared  Jews.  They 
lost  no  time  in  building  a  synagogue,  and  in  founding  schools 
and  charitable  institutions.  In  the  land  of  dikes  and  wind- 
mills they  applied  themselves  to  their  Jewish  learning,  as 
they  had  in  so  many  ages  and  in  so  many  different  parts  of 
the  world, — in  Jerusalem  and  in  Jamnia,  in  Sura  and  in 
Cordova.  Amsterdam,  with  its  happy,  honored,  and  rapidly 
increasing  Jewish  community,  came  to  be  called  the  New 
Jerusalem. 

From  other  European  lands  also  the  downtrodden  Jews 
turned  to  Holland  as  to  the  Promised  Land.  Hither  fled 
Refugees  the  cruelly  oppressed  Jews  of  Germany  and,  dur- 
Genaan  *n£  ^e  ^ear^u^  Cossack  persecutions  of  1648, 
and  Poland,  many  Jews  from  Poland.  These  refugees  from 
Germany  and  Poland,  however,  were  not  polished  aristocrats 
like  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Jews.  They  were  poor 
unfortunates  who  had  for  centuries  been  victims  of  the 
crowded  ghetto  and  the  searing  badge  of  shame.  They  could 
not  at  once  straighten  the  body  that  persecution  had  bent, 
or  throw  off  the  shackles  that  intolerance  had  fastened  upon 
the  mind.  Because  of  their  wide  differences  in  manners  and 


Manasseh  ben  Israel  235 

customs,  and  because,  too,  of  the  different  languages  which 
they  spoke,  it  was  impossible  that  a  very  close  bond  should 
unite  them  with  the  Spanish  Jews  in  Holland.  Accordingly 
we  find  the  Spanish  and  Portugese  Jews  keeping  very  much 
to  themselves;  indeed  they  stood  aloof  from  their  less  cul- 
tured brethren  more  than  we  like  to  see.  They  worshipped 
in  different  synagogues  with  a  different  prayer-book  and  a 
different  pronunciation  of  Hebrew,  and  they  studied  in 
separate  schools. 

These  Jewish  fugitives,  too,  the  Dutch  received  not 
grudgingly,  but  gladly.  Thrifty  and  frugal  themselves,  they 
valued  highly  the  industry  and  financial  enterprise 
Reward  S  °^  ^e  newcomers.  Nor  were  they  less  apprecia- 
tive of  the  ripe  scholarship  of  the  Jews  from 
Spain.  Holland  was  a  land  of  scholars,  and  Dutch  men  of 
learning  turned  to  the  Jews  for  guidance  in  the  study  of 
Hebrew  and  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Bible. 

This  blossoming  out  of  the  Netherlands  in  commerce  and 
in  culture  after  the  Jews  had  settled  there,  was  not  unno- 
An  Example  t^ce<^  ^v  otner  lands.  Other  countries  saw  and 
to  other  considered.  The  outcasts  whom  they  had  spurned 
from  their  borders  were  proving  their  importance 
in  the  economic  and  spiritual  growth  of  the  land  that  shel- 
tered them.  In  consequence,  many  princes,  among  them  the 
King  of  Denmark  and  the  Dukes  of  Modena  and  Savoy, 
invited  the  Jews  to  settle  in  their  domains.  But  there  was 
still  one  shore  upon  which  they  might  not  set  foot:  since 
1290  no  Jew  had  entered  England.  To  this  island  the  Jews 
of  Amsterdam  looked  with  longing.  Who  would  undertake 
to  open  a  way  for  the  Jews  into  England?  The  man  who 
attempted  this  difficult  task  was  Manasseh  ben  Israel. 

Manasseh's  father  had  escaped  from  the  dungeons  of  the 
Manasseh  Inquisition,  and  broken  in  health  and  ruined  in 
Ben  Israel.  fortune,  had  sought  the  peace  that  his  countrymen 
enjoyed  in  Amsterdam.  He  did  not  long  enioy  the  quiet 


236 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


Manasseh  ben  Israel — Rembrandt, 


Manasseh  ben  Israel  237 

and  freedom  of  Holland,  for  he  soon  died.  Manasseh, 
the  youngest  of  his  family,  early  showed  himself  a  boy  of 
intelligence  and  promise.  He  applied  himself  zealously  to 
study,  and  mastered  not  only  Bible  and  Talmud,  but  also 
secular  knowledge,  especially  languages.  At  eighteen  he 
was  already  preacher  in  Amsterdam  and  teacher  in  the 
school.  But  these  positions  were  not  well  paid,  and  they 
did  not  suffice  to  support  the  young  scholar.  Early  in  life 
he  had  married — his  wife,  by  the  way,  was  a  great-grand- 
daughter of  Isaac  Abravanel — and  the  responsibility  of  car- 
ing for  a  family  compelled  the  youthful  rabbi,  like  the  sages 
of  an  earlier  day,  to  labor  with  his  hands.  He  set  up  a 
printing-press,  the  first  Hebrew  press  in  Holland.  But  even 
this  enterprise  did  not  provide  sufficient  money,  and  Manasseh 
began  to  think  seriously  of  emigrating  to  Brazil  on  a  trading 
venture.  Fortunately,  two  wealthy  and  philanthropic  mem- 
bers of  his  congregation  showed  their  public  spirit  by  coming 
forward  at  this  crisis.  They  established  a  college  and  placed 
Mannasseh  at  the  head  of  it  with  an  adequate  salary.  Thus 
his  needs  were  met,  and  he  was  able  to  devote  himself  to 
the  work  he  found  most  congenial, — to  his  duties  in  the  pulpit 
and  in  the  school,  and,  above  all,  to  his  beloved  books. 

From  his  books   Manasseh  gained  much.     His   learning 
was  wide;  it  lacked  depth,  but  it  had  range  and   variety. 

He  contributed  nothing  original  to  the  sum  of 
Conciliator."  human  knowledge,  but  little  that  had  been  written 

by  other  men  escaped  him.  He  knew  his  Jewish 
literature,  and  with  great  ease  and  rapidity  he  wrote  book 
after  book  on  what  he  had  acquired.  The  work  which  first 
drew  to  him  the  attention  of  the  learned  world  shows  his 
untiring  industry  and  his  wide  reading.  It  was  called  "The 
Conciliator"  ("El  Conciliador"),  and  its  object  was  to  recon- 
cile passages  in  the  Bible  which  seemed  to  conflict  with  one 
another.  It  was  written  in  Spanish,  although  Manasseh 
could  have  written  it  with  equal  fluency  in  Hebrew,  Latin, 


238  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Portuguese,  or  English;  and  it  is  computed  to  contain  quo- 
tations from  or  references  to  over  two  hundred  Hebrew, 
and  fifty  Latin  and  Greek  authors. 

Although  Manasseh  can  not  be  considered  an  accurate  or 
a  thorough  writer,  his  contemporaries,  both  Jews  and  Chris- 
Homage  from  tians,  looked  with  wonder  and  admiration  upon 
Christian  his  voluminous  works.  Writing  with  equal  ease 
in  any  one  of  a  half  dozen  languages,  he  presented 
Talmudic  literature  to  Christian  Europe  so  clearly,  that 
through  him  Christian  scholars  became  familiar  with  Jewish 
thought  and  Jewish  points  of  view.  The  learning  that  he 
showed,  and  the  winning  friendliness  and  warmth  of  heart, 
gained  him  friends  among  the  intellectual  all  over  the  world. 
So  great  was  his  reputation  that  every  Christian  scholar 
who  traveled  through  Amsterdam  sought  him  out  and  paid 
him  homage.  Some  of  the  foremost  people  of  his  time  ex- 
changed letters  with  him.  Rembrandt,  the  great  Dutch 
painter,  was  his  friend.  Queen  Christina  of  Sweden,  the 
learned  daughter  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  rated  him  so  highly 
that  she  would  gladly  have  admitted  his  people  into  Sweden, 
had  not  the  government  forbidden  it. 

More  than  in  any  other  topic,  Manasseh  was  profoundly 

interested  in  all  that  had  been  written  about  the  Messiah  and 

the  coming  of  the  Messianic  time.     He  lived  in 

The  Hope  of  . 

the  Messiah,  an  age  when,  in  all  countries  of  Europe,  there 
were  dreamers,  Christian  as  well  as  Jewish,  who 
hoped  for  the  speedy  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  These 
mystical-minded  enthusiasts  studied  the  Bible  assiduously  for 
all  the  prophetic  passages  that  related  to  the  millenium,  and 
every  word  that  they  found  they  interpreted  literally.  Ac- 
cordingly they  believed  that  before  the  Messiah  could  come, 
the  lost  Ten  Tribes  of  Israel  must  first  be  found,  in  order 
that  the  union  of  Israel  and  Judah  which  the  prophets  had 
foretold  might  come  to  pass;  nor  could  the  Messiah  appear 


Manasseh  ben  Israel  239 

before  the  fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  that  the  Jews  should 
be  scattered  from  one  end  of  the  earth  to  the  other. 

Manasseh  was  eager  to  do  his  share  towards  hastening 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  Together  with  the  other  vision- 
aries of  Europe,  especially  the  Puritans  of  Eng- 
Ten  Tribes.  lanc^  ^e  set  himself  to  solve  the  first  problem. 
What  had  become  of  the  lost  Ten  Tribes  ban- 
ished from  Israel  by  the  Assyrian  conqueror,  Shalmanassar  ? 
Manasseh  felt  that  he  was  in  a  position  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion. Some  years  before,  a  Jewish  traveler  in  South  America 
had  been  led  to  believe,  by  his  observations  of  the  Indians, 
that  among  them  existed  the  Israelitish  tribes;  and  later  ex- 
periences with  the  Indians  confirmed  in  him  this  impression. 
Of  the  truth  of  this  statement  Manasseh  wac  firmly  con- 
vinced. To  him,  too,  certain  manners  and  customs  of  the 
Indians  seemed  to  resemble  those  of  the  Jews.  On  this 
foundation  he  wrote  a  book  entitled  "Israel's  Hope,"  in 
which  he  traced  the  course  of  the  Ten  Tribes  to  Tartary  and 
China  and  thence  to  the  American  continent,  thus  disposing, 
to  his  own  satisfaction,  of  the  first  obstacle  to  the  Messianic 
age.  In  this  book,  also,  he  referred  with  deep  feeling  to 
another  prophetic  message,  the  warning  of  punishment  to 
the  Jews,  and  he  showed  how  tragically  this  prophecy  had 
been  fulfilled.  He  pointed  out  the  unspeakable  cruelty  that 
the  Jews  had  suffered  and  still  continued  to  suffer  from 
the  Inquisition  because  they  would  not  forsake  the  Law  re- 
vealed to  their  fathers.  For  it  numberless  martyrs  had 
perished;  for  it  men  and  women  were  still,  with  incredible 
heroism,  giving  up  their  lives  in  fiery  torture.  As  these 
prophesied  sufferings  had  been  inflicted,  so  Manasseh  drew 
the  conclusion  that  the  promised  redemption  would  also 
come  to  pass. 

Manasseh  now  turned  to  the  second  problem  that  was 
troubling  the  mystics.  If,  before  the  Messiah  could  come, 
the  Jews  were  first  to  be  scattered  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 


240  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

then  they  must  certainly  with  all  speed  be  admitted  into 
England,  in  the  extreme  north  of  the  inhabited 
world.  But  for  more  than  three  hundred  years 
no  Jews  had  been  allowed  to  enter  England. 
Accordingly  Manasseh  bent  all  his  energy  towards  securing 
for  his  people  permission  to  settle  in  England.  In  1650  he 
sent  to  the  English  Parliament  his  "Hope  of  Israel,"  accom- 
panying it  with  a  letter  in  which  he  requested  that  the  Jews 
be  no  longer  denied  a  home  on  English  soil.  In  this  letter 
he  expressed  his  eagerness  to  travel  to  England  and  there 
in  person  to  plead  the  cause  of  his  people. 

Manasseh  did  not  send  his  treatise  to  England  without 
being  reasonably  sure  of  the  reception  that  it  would  receive. 
The  Attitude  From  Amsterdam  he  had  carefully  observed  con- 
towards  the  ditions  m  England,  and  they  seemed  very  favor- 
Puritan  able  to  his  cause.  The  Puritan  party  had,  in 
England.  1648,  come  into  power;  and  Oliver  Cromwell  and 
his  army  had  won  religious  freedom.  Would  they  be  will- 
ing to  extend  it  to  the  Jew?  It  did  not  seem  improbable. 
It  was  to  the  great  figures  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  that  Crom- 
well and  his  men  turned  for  guidance  and  inspiration, — to 
the  Judges  who  had  freed  an  oppressed  people,  to  the  kings 
who  had  routed  the  enemies  of  their  country.  Cromwell 
compared  himself  to  Gideon  and  to  Judas  Maccabeus.  Now 
to  revere  the  ancient  heroes  of  Hebrew  story,  to  live  ac- 
cording to  the  word  of  Hebrew  psalmist  and  prophet,  and 
yet  not  to  honor  the  people  who  were  of  the  race  and  the 
faith  that  had  given  to  the  world  all  this  greatness  and  glory 
was  unthinkable.  And  indeed  among  the  Puritans  were 
many  men  who  admired  the  "people  of  God."  So  far,  in 
fact,  did  their  liking  for  Jewish  customs  and  Jewish  thought 
go,  that  one  writer  wished  the  government  to  declare  the 
Jewish  Sabbath  the  English  day  of  rest,  and  another  sug- 
gested that  the  Torah  be  made  the  code  of  law  of  the  com- 
monwealth! A  prominent  Englishman,  moreover,  in  a  work 


Manasseh  ben  Israel  241 

dedicated  to  Parliament,  declared  that  the  suffering  brought 
upon  England  by  the  civil  war  was  a  just  punishment  for 
English  persecution  of  the  Jews;  that  it  was  necessary  to 
atone  for  this  great  sin  by  admitting  the  Jews  and  treating 
them  as  brothers ;  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Englishmen 
to  use  every  means  to  comfort  the  Jews,  in  order  to  obtain 
their  forgiveness  for  the  innocent  Jewish  blood  that  had 
been  shed  in  England,  and  to  unite  Jews  and  Englishmen  in 
friendship. 

These  signs  of  the  times  Manasseh  ben  Israel  had  not 
misinterpreted.     His  request  was  favorably  received  by  Par- 
liament.    Lord  Middlesex   sent   him  a   letter  of 
Reception  of  thanks  addressed  "To  my  dear  brother,  the  He- 
Manasseh's      brew  philosopher.  Manasseh  ben  Israel."    He  was 

Request 

invited  to  appear  before  Parliament.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  the  war  that  broke  out  at  that  time  between 
England  and  Holland  interrupted  peaceful  communication  be- 
tween Amsterdam  and  London,  and  it  was  not  until  peace 
was  again  established  that  Manasseh  was  able  to  take  up 
his  project.  Nor  was  he  encouraged  to  go  on  with  his  plan 
until  he  had  assured  the  Dutch  government  that  the  Jews 
of  Amsterdam  were  not  themselves  contemplating  going  over 
to  the  foremost  rival  of  the  Netherlands,  but  that  they  rather 
sought  in  England  a  resting-place  as  pleasant  as  their  own 
for  the  outcast  and  persecuted  Jews  of  countries  that  were 
still  cruelly  intolerant.  How  gratifying  it  must  have  been 
to  the  Jews  to  realize  that  they  were  regarded  as  citizens 
so  desirable  that  Holland  would  not  willingly  permit  them 
to  leave!  Indeed,  in  those  days  it  was  a  compliment  as 
rare  as  it  was  agreeable. 

In  London   Manasseh   was   received   in   a  most   friendly 
fashion  by  the  Lord  Protector  as  the  spokesman 

The   Friendly  .  _        .   , 

Reception        and  representative  of  the  whole  Jewish  race.     In 
of  Manasseh    a  stately  audience  he  delivered  his  petition.     He 

Himself. 

referred  to  history  to  prove  that  God  had  pun- 


242  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

ished  the  monarchs  that  had  troubled  Israel, — Pharaoh, 
Nebuchadnezzar,  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  others.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  benefactors  of  the  Jewish  race  had  enjoyed 
happiness,  so  that  the  promise  of  God  to  Abraham  had  been 
literally  fulfilled:  "I  will  bless  them  that  bless  thee,  and 
curse  them  that  curse  thee."  At  the  same  time  Manasseh 
spread  through  England  a  declaration  in  which  he  stated  the 
case  for  the  Jew  with  dignity  and  restraint.  Justice,  not 
favor,  was  what  he  asked  for.  He  dwelt  on  the  advantages 
in  commerce  that  England  would  gain  from  the  ability  and 
industry  of  the  Jews,  pointing  to  the  wholesale  trade  of  the 
Jews  of  Holland  in  diamonds,  dye-stuffs,  wine,  and  oil  to 
prove  his  assertion.  Against  the  charge  of  lack  of  loyalty, 
so  often  repeated,  so  entirely  without  foundation,  he  de- 
fended his  people  by  showing  that  Jeremiah's  injunction: 
"Seek  the  peace  of  the  city  whither  I  have  caused  you  to 
be  carried  away  captive,  and  pray  unto  the  Lord  for  it" 
had  ever  been  followed  by  the  Jews.  He  cited  examples  of 
the  fidelity  and  loyalty  of  Jews  in  ancient  and  in  modern 
times  towards  the  countries  that  sheltered  them.  The  charge 
of  usury  he  met  by  maintaining  that  the  Jews  abhorred 
usury,  and  that  if  some  Jews  acted  contrary  to  their  rule 
which  forbade  the  taking  of  usury,  they  did  it  "not  as  Jews, 
but  as  wicked  Jews."  The  accusation  of  ritual  murder  he 
denied  briefly  and  emphatically,  reminding  the  Englishmen 
that  similar  charges  had  been  made  by  pagans,  in  the  early 
history  of  the  Church,  against  the  Christians  themselves. 
And  he  denied  that  the  Jews  sought  to  convert  Christians  to 
Judaism,  referring  to  the  Jewish  law  to  prove  that  it  was 
their  custom  to  dissuade  rather  than  to  attract  converts. 
This  appeal,  aided  as  it  was  by  the  appearance  and  char- 
acter of  the  representative  of  the  Jewish  people,  made  a 
profound  impression.  Cromwell  himself  most 

Opposition.  .,  ,T  i«,,j  j 

earnestly  wished  to  see  the  Jews  admitted,  and 
he   spoke   in   their   defense.      Many   voices,    however,    were 


Manasseh  ben  Israel  243 

raised  against  them.  Merchants  feared  Jewish  rivalry. 
Clergymen,  who  could  not  rid  themselves  of  their  hatred  of 
those  whom  they  believed  to  be  the  crucifiers  of  their 
Savior,  were  most  violent  in  their  opposition.  They  easily 
roused  to  hostility  a  multitude  that  knew,  not  the  real  Jew, 
but  the  Jew  as  Shakespeare  had  drawn  him  in  "The  Mer- 
chant of  Venice,"  miserly,  vengeful,  and  bloodthirsty.  To 
stir  up  fanatical  excitement  against  the  Jews,  their  enemies 
spread  broadcast  through  England  publications  in  which  all 
the  old  false  accusations  were  again  raked  up  against  them. 
Meanwhile  Manasseh  waited.  The  decision  of  the  ques- 
tion was  delayed.  For  six  anxious  months  he  hoped  for  a 
•The  Defence  favorable  reply.  He  used  his  time  in  composing 
of  the  an  answer  to  a  letter  in  which  a  person  of  im- 

portance in  the  government  set  forth  all  the  ac- 
cusations against  the  Jews  and  asked  Manasseh  to  refute 
them.  Manasseh's  response,  his  "Vindiciae  Judaeorum"  or 
"Defence  of  the  Jews,"  which  appeared  in  1656,  is  the  best 
known  and  probably  the  best  work  from  his  pen.  He  wrote 
it  with  deep  feeling.  He  devoted  most  space  to  a  denial  of 
the  accusation  that  Jews  at  Passover  use  the  blood  of  mur- 
dered Christian  children.  Then  he  denied  the  absurd  state- 
ment that  Jews  practise  idolatry  with  the  scrolls  of  the 
Torah.  In  succeeding  chapters  he  declared  that  Jews  in 
their  prayers  do  not  curse  Christians  or  mock  other  religions. 
He  defended  the  Jews  against  the  charge  that  they  are  not 
upright  in  business,  asserting  that  their  religion  particularly 
demands  the  utmost  rectitude.  Not  only  among  the  Jews, 
but  among  all  nations  and  all  peoples  are  found  some  who 
do  not  obey  the  Law.  And  he  concluded  with  an  eloquent 
appeal  to  the  people  of  England: 

"And  to  the  highly  honored  nation  of  England 
I  make  my  most  humble  request,  that  they  would 
read  over  my  arguments  impartially,  without  preju- 
dice and  devoid  of  all  passion,  effectually  recom- 


244  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

mending  me  to  their  grace  and  favor,  and  earnestly 
beseeching  God  that  He  would  be  pleased  to  hasten 
the  time  promised  by  Zephaniah,  wherein  we  shall 
all  serve  Him  with  one  consent,  after  the  same  man- 
ner, and  shall  be  all  of  the  same  judgment;  that  as 
His  name  is  one,  so  His  fear  may  be  also  one,  and 
that   we   may    all    see    the   goodness    of    the    Lord 
(blessed  forever!)  and  the  consolations  of  Zion." 
This   last   work   of    Manasseh   ben    Israel   made   a   very 
favorable  impression  in  England,  but  it  did  not  accomplish 
its    mission.      Cromwell,    amidst    the    increasing 
Failure.  difficulties  of  his  government,  could  not  find  time 

to  effect  the  admission  of  the  Jews.  Parliament 
reached  no  formal  decision.  Manasseh  was  dismissed  with 
honor,  without,  however,  the  comforting  conviction  that  he 
had  won  his  cause.  On  the  journey  home,  in  1657,  he  died, 
probably  broken  down  by  his  exertions  and  the  disappoint- 
ment of  his  hopes. 

Yet  his  work  had  not  been  in  vain.     In  the  very  year  of 

his  death,  the  residence  of  Jews  was  permitted  in  London, 

not,   indeed,  triumphantly   and  with    full   process 

Real   Success.  '  .««*•«  -or  -MT  i. 

of  law,  but  still  practically.  Before  Manasseh 
had  been  dead  ten  years,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Par- 
liamentary decision  had  not  yet  been  rendered,  there  was  a 
large  Jewish  community  in  London.  These  Jews  followed 
their  religion  without  hazard;  they  worshipped  openly  in 
their  synagogue.  And  if  they  were  not  allowed  all  the  rights 
of  English  citizens,  they  enjoyed  a  much  greater  freedom 
than  their  German  brothers,  and  a  security  and  peace  that 
drew  to  them  many  Maranos  from  Portugal  and  Spain.  And 
the  passing  years  proved  that  England,  like  Holland,  would 
be  given  no  cause  to  regret  that  she  had  set  her  gates  ajar, 
and  allowed  the  Jews  to  come  in. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  principally  for  his  many,  many  books 
that  we  remember  Manasseh  ben  Israel  with  honor.     He  is 


Manasseh  ben  Israel  245 

known   now   less   as   a   writer  of   books,   more  as   doer   of 
c     .        deeds.     Like  Isaac  Abravanel,   he  is   famous  to- 

iiis    ocrvicc 

to  his  day,  not  so  much  in  the  field  of  literature,  as  in  the 

world  of  action.  The  Spanish  Don  did  his  utmost 
to  prevent  the  banishment  of  his  race  from  Spain,  sacrificing 
wealth  and  position  to  cast  his  lot  with  his  own  people.  The 
Dutch  rabbi  brought  it  about,  even  though  indirectly  and 
not  in  the  way  he  hoped,  that  the  Jews  were  admitted  into 
the  boundless  opportunities  of  free  England,  there  to  achieve 
a  career  full  of  honor  for  their  country  and  for  their  re- 
ligion. 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Abbott,  G.  F. :     Israel  in  Europe,  p.  275  ff . 

Adler,  E.   N. :     A   Letter  of  Menasseh  b.  Israel,  Jewish   Quarterly 

Review,  April,  1904,  p.  562. 
Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  X,  Ch.  4. 
Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  V,  Ch.  2. 
Hyamson,  A.:     History  of  the  Jews  in  England,  pp.  181-211. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VIII,  p.  282,  Article  Manasseh  b.  Israel. 
Magnus,  Kate:     Portraits,  pp.  68-89. 
Schindler,  S. :     Dissolving   Views,  pp.  202-14. 
Wolf,    L.:     Introduction  to   Manasseh  b.  Israel's  Mixsion   to   Oliver 

Cromwell, 


246 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


XXIII. 
URIEL  DA  COSTA  AND  BARUCH   SPINOZA. 

But  while  the  Jews  of  Holland  were  enjoying  the  new- 
found happiness  of  following  their  religion  openly  and  with- 
out restraint,  flames  from  the  funeral  piles  of 
Portugal.  martyred  Jews  still  reddened  the  skies  of  Spain 
and  Portugal.  Secret  Jews,  lacking  the  supreme 
courage  to  mount  the  faggots  and  die  the  terrible  death  by 
fire,  had  yet  sufficient  fortitude  and  devotion  to  the  faith  of 
their  fathers  to  forfeit  their  position  and  their  wealth  and 
to  risk  their  life  in  a  dangerous  flight  to  Holland,  where 
they  could  throw  off  the  hateful  disguise  of  enforced  Chris- 
tianity and  live  as  Jews  before  the  world. 

Gabriel  da  Costa  was  a  brilliant  young  Portuguese  cav- 
alier, whose  soul  could  not  find  comfort  in  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Catholic  Church.     To  find  an  answer  to 

Gabriel  ,  .         .       ,  ,  .  . 

da  Costa.  "is  doubts  and  his  questionings,  he  went  back 
to  the  Testament  revered  by  both  Jew  and  Chris- 
tian. He  read  the  Prophets ;  and  their  sublime  teachings, 
their  constant  striving  after  justice  and  righteousness,  in- 
spired him.  He  turned  to  the  Law  of  Moses,  and  he  was 
touched  by  its  tender  care  for  the  poor  and  the  stranger. 
And  this  people — he  remembered  with  sudden  enthusiasm — 
this  people  that  had  "statutes  and  judgments  so  righteous 
as  all  this  law,"  was  his  own  race !  His  ancestors  had  prayed 
in  synagogues  in  the  days  before  the  terrors  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion had  made  of  them  good  Christians.  He  was  no  coward, 

247 


248  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

he  told  himself.  He  would  not  live  a  daily  lie,  professing 
Christianity  with  his  lips,  but  longing  for  Judaism  in  his 
heart.  He  would  abjure  Catholicism  and  become  a  Jew.  He 
would  leave  Portugal  and  flee  to  Holland  where  faith  was 
free.  To  this  plan  he  won  over  his  mother  and  his  brothers, 
and  together  they  left  friends,  station  in  society,  homeland. 
The  sunny  blue  sky  and  the  pleasant  hills  of  Portugal  spoke 
of  many  tender  associations,  but  the  call  of  conscience  was 
stronger. 

In  Amsterdam,  Da  Costa  changed  his  baptismal  name  of 

Gabriel  to  the  Hebrew  Uriel.     With  enthusiasm  he  went  to 

the    Portuguese   synagogue   to   worship   with    his 

His  Happiness  °  .  °    °  .  J 

at  First.          brethren,  happy  indeed  to  be  in  a  city  where  the 
music  of  Hebrew  psalms  and  prayers  could  rise 

freely   to    Heaven,   not   smothered   in   secret    rooms    behind 

closed  doors. 

But  it  was  not  long  before  Da  Costa's  impetuous  spirit 

began  to   lose  some  of   its   first  ardent   rapture.     He   had 
expected  to  find  in  Amsterdam   a   Jewish   com- 

His    Dis-  .         ,.    .          .       _..,  ,.  ....  ,. 

appointment,  munity  living  in  Biblical  simplicity,  according  to 
the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Law  of  Moses. 
He  thought  that  here  he  should  see  men  actuated  by  the 
broad  humanity  of  the  Hebrew  prophets.  Instead  he  found 
the  Dutch  Jews  regulating  the  most  minute  details  of  their 
lives  by  a  multitude  of  Talmudical  laws.  He  saw  what  to 
him  seemed  a  puzzling,  irksome  network  of  ceremonial,  cast 
over  the  simplest  actions, — eating,  drinking,  washing,  dress- 
ing, working.  He  could  not  understand  that  the  Jews  of 
Amsterdam  found  their  lives  hallowed  and  bound  daily  anew 
to  God  by  these  household  rules  and  humble  rites  that  he 
disliked.  This  ritual  was  endeared  to  most  of  them  by 
the  most  sacred  childhood  associations  with  parents  long 
since  dead, — tortured,  perhaps  martyred,  for  their  constancy 
to  the  faith  which  their  children  could  now,  in  a  happier 
land,  practise  in  peace  and  in  comfort.  Da  Costa  had  in  his 


Uriel  da  Costa  and  Baruch  Spinoza  249 

heart  no  all-embracing  human  sympathy  which  would  have 
given  him  the  power  to  interpret  this  different  attitude 
towards  God  and  duty.  He  felt  that  the  great  sacrifice  he 
had  made  for  his  convictions  gave  him  the  right  to  express 
his  opinions  freely,  to  protest  vehemently  against  the  gap 
that  seemed  to  him  to  stretch  between  the  Biblical  Judaism 
of  his  dreams  and  aspirations,  and  this  rabbinical  Judaism 
of  the  New  Jerusalem.  And  on  their  side,  the  Amsterdam 
Jews  were  unable  to  comprehend  this  fiery  enthusiast,  wno 
had  come  to  them  to  share  their  faith,  and  who  now  seemed 
to  speak  of  it  so  scornfully.  The  memory  of  what  their 
religion  had  cost  them  and  their  fathers  was  too  vivid  in 
their  minds  for  them  to  permit  this  rash  intruder  to  attack 
the  least  of  its  precepts. 

Unfortunately,  the  land  of  the  Inquisition,  through  long 
centuries  of  persecution,  had  taught  them  a  terrible,  un- 
Jewish  way  of  dealing  with  those  who  differed 
munication.  with  them  in  belief.  The  rabbis  threatened  Da 
Costa  with  the  dread  punishment  of  excommuni- 
cation. But  even  this  did  not  silence  him,  and  so,  not  with- 
out frequent  warning,  the  synagogue  at  last  solemnly  thrust 
out  this  erring  son.  No  man,  woman,  or  child  was  to  speak 
a  word  to  him.  His  own  mother  and  brothers  were  to  shun 
him.  He  was  to  be  cut  off  from  all  mankind.  In  the  great 
alien  city  he  stood  alone. 

There  was  still  left  to  Da  Costa,  however,  his  pen.  He 
would  write  a  book  so  that  all  the  world  should  know  the 
glaring  contrast  between  the  Judaism  of  the  Dutch 


His  impris-     jews   and  the  religion  of   the  Bible      Especially 

eminent.  <?  r  J 

would  he  point  out  that  this  Judaism  of  theirs 
was  concerned  with  the  body  alone,  and  not  with  the  soul; 
that  it  taught  nothing  as  to  immortality.  The  Jews  of  Am- 
sterdam learned  that  Da  Costa  was  preparing  an  attack 
upon  them,  and  one  of  them  anticipated  it  by  publishing  a 
book  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  in  which  he  reproached 


250  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

Da  Costa  with  declaring  that  the  soul  is  not  immortal. 
Uriel,  in  his  reply,  called  the  accusation  false,  and  yet  he 
showed  that  his  mind  was  very  uncertain  about  the  whole 
matter.  Further  study  of  the  Pentateuch  had  shown  him 
that  Moses  himself  nowhere  mentioned  immortality,  and  so 
Da  Costa's  book  left  him  convicted  of  denying  the  future 
life.  Now  the  alarmed  rabbis  appealed  to  the  city  magis- 
trates. They  charged  Da  Costa  with  being  guilty  of  an 
offense  not  against  Judaism  alone,  but  against  Christianity 
as  well,  for  immortality  of  the  soul  is  a  teaching  of  both 
faiths.  Uriel  was  arrested,  condemned  to  pay  a  fine,  and 
kept  in  prison  for  several  days.  His  book  was  burned. 
These  humiliations  he  felt  keenly,  and  his  heart  was  hot 
with  anger  against  those  who  had  so  shamed  him. 

Yet  as  year  followed  year,  his  lonely  life,  without  inter- 
course with  any  fellow-creature,  became  unbearable.  By 
His  Desire  *^is  time  he  had  fallen  away  entirely  from  Juda- 
for  Recon-  ism,  but  he  felt  so  great  a  yearning  for  human 
cthation.  companionship,  especially  for  speech  with  his 
brother,  that  he  was  at  last  eager  for  reconciliation.  He 
would  live  a  lie.  He  would  profess  Judaism  with  his  lips, 
although  he  no  longer  felt  sympathy  with  it  in  his  heart. 
To  use  his  own  bitter  words,  he  would  be  "an  ape  among 
apes." 

But  his  peace  with  the  synagogue  did  not  last  long.  His 
passionate  nature  again  brought  him  into  open  conflict  with 
the  Jews  of  Amsterdam.  Again  he  broke  the 
Lapse.  laws  that  he  had  promised  to  obey — broke  them 

defiantly  and  impenitently.  Then  came  the  climax. 
It  reached  the  ears  of  the  rabbis  that  two  Christians  who 
had  come  to  Uriel  to  seek  advice  about  attaching  themselves 
to  Judaism  had  been  warned  to  beware  of  the  intolerable 
yoke  of  the  synagogue.  Again  Uriel  da  Costa  was  excom- 
municated. Again  he  dragged  out  the  terrible,  lonely  years, 
shunned  by  all,  even  his  name  never  mentioned.  Again  he 


Uriel  da  Costa  and  Baruch  Spinoza  251 

craved  companionship,  and  again  he  came  to  the  synagogue 
seeking  forgiveness. 

But  this  time  the  rabbis  were  not  willing  to  be  made  so 
easily  the  victims  of  hypocrisy.  Uriel  must  testify  to  his 
The  Scene  sincerity.  And  here  the  rabbis,  influenced  by  that 
in  the  Inquisition  in  whose  shadow  they  had  dwelt  so 

rnagogue.  many  years,  unhappily  imitated  its  gloomy  forms 
and  devised  for  Uriel  a  humiliating  penance.  In  the  great 
synagogue,  densely  filled  with  men  and  women,  he  must 
read  a  long  confession  of  his  sins  and  promise  to  live  till 
death  a  true  Jew.  Then,  stripped  to  the  waist,  he  must 
receive  upon  his  back  thirty-nine  lashes  with  a  scourge.  And 
last,  he  must  stretch  himself  across  the  threshold  of  the 
synagogue  and  let  the  congregation  pass  out  over  his  pros- 
trate body. 

The  disgrace  of  this   terrible  scene  shook  Uriel  to  the 

depths  of  his  soul.     He  could  not  be  expected  to  see  that 

those  who  persecuted  him   were  themselves   the 

Its  Effect  .     .  .„.  .,          ,  ... 

victims,  the  unwilling  pupils,  of  centuries  of  just 
such  grim  discipline — and  worse.  He  went  from  the  syna- 
gogue, his  one  desire  a  longing  for  revenge  and  then — death. 
He  would  show  the  world  what  manner  of  men  were  these 
Jews :  he  would  tell  the  tragic  story  of  his  broken  life. 

And  so  his  "Exemplar  Humanae  Vitae,"  "A  Specimen  of 
Human  Life,"  is  a  series  of  furious  attacks  upon  Jews  and 
"A  Specimen  Juo>aism-  When  he  had  finished  it,  he  put  an  end 
of  Human  to  his  troubled  life.  He  had  been  neither  a  heroic 
man  nor  a  wise  thinker,  but  his  last  desperate  act 
won  for  his  rash,  suffering  soul  the  sympathetic  attention 
that  he  desired,  and  served  to  put  in  the  wrong  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world  the  Jews  of  seventeenth  century  Amsterdam, 
whose  patience  he  had  so  sorely  tried. 

Once  again  were  the  Jews  of  Amsterdam  to  have  their 
hearts  wrung  by  one  from  whom  they  had  expected  nothing 
but  loyalty  and  love.  But  Baruch  Spinoza  was  a  man  very 


252 


Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 


Spinoza — Ernest  Bruce  Haswell. 


Uriel  da  Costa  and  Baruch  Spinoza  253 

different  from  the  unhappy  Uriel  da  Costa.  His  parents  had 
fled  from  Spain  to  kindly  Amsterdam,  and  there, 
Spinoza  *n  1^32,  the  child  was  born,  whom  they  called 
Baruch,  the  "Blessed."  The  boy  learned  what 
his  God-fearing  parents  could  teach  him  of  the  tragic  history 
of  his  race  and  the  undying  faith  that  is  the  heritage  of  the 
children  of  Israel.  In  the  Jewish  school  in  Amsterdam, 
where  Manasseh  ben  Israel  was  one  of  his  teachers,  he 
studied  Bible  and  Talmud  and  rabbinical  literature.  Eagerly 
he  applied  himself  to  the  works  of  the  Jewish  religious  phil- 
osophers of  the  Middle  Ages,  especially  to  the  writings  of 
Moses  Maimonides  and  Ibn  Ezra.  A  passionate  desire  for 
knowledge  led  him  also  to  the  literature  of  classic  antiquity; 
and,  still  thirsting  to  know  more  and  more,  he  turned  with 
zeal  to  the  study  of  physics,  mathematics,  astronomy,  chem- 
istry, and  medicine.  He  became  acquainted  with  the  works 
of  Descartes,  the  thinker  who  was  leading  Europe  in  an 
attempt  to  found  philosophy,  not  on  tradition,  but  on  reason. 
So  Spinoza  acquired  unusual  learning,  and  so  his  mind,  in- 
fluenced by  the  thoroughness  and  mathematical  precision  of 
his  studies,  came  to  set  up  as  its  only  guide  the  human  in- 
tellect, the  reasoning  power  of  man. 

His  ardent  desire  for  truth  in  all  things,  at  all  cost,  led 
him  to  apply  this  standard  to  his  religion,  to  the  Judaism  of 
His  indcpen-  1™S  day.  He  would  believe  nothing  that  could  not 
dent  Search  be  comprehended  by  clear  thinking  conducted  ac- 
tor Truth.  cording  to  methods  of  mathematical  accuracy. 
Tradition  should  not  guide  him;  his  own  independent  judg- 
ment alone  he  would  follow.  The  torch  handed  down  from 
one  generation  of  his  race  to  the  next,  the  light  that  shone 
from  the  religious  experience  of  seer  and  sage,  should  not 
illumine  his  path. 

And  so  it  was  not  long  before  the  Jewish  community  of 
Amsterdam  was  again  disquieted  and  alarmed  by  rumors  that 
the  brilliant  young  scholar,  from  whom  they  had  hoped  much. 


254  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

was  giving  utterance  to  dangerous  opinions.  It  was  re- 
A  Menace  ported  that  Spinoza  was  indifferent  to  Judaism, 
to  the  completely  estranged  from  the  faith  of  his  fathers ; 

nity'  and  that  far  from  devoting  his  unusual  ability 
to  the  service  of  the  synagogue,  as  they  had  hoped,  he  would 
direct  it  against  the  religion  of  his  parents  and  of  his  child- 
hood. 

The  Jews  of  Amsterdam  were  doubly  grieved  and  con- 
cerned. On  the  one  hand,  they  mourned  the  loss  of  a  fav- 
The  Effort  OI"ite  son,  well  loved  in  the  community.  On  the 
towards  other,  they  feared  the  harmful  influence  that  so 

Reconciliation,  g^    ^    man    CQ^    ^^    Qn    ^    young        They 

could  not  allow  doctrines  undermining  Judaism  to  be  taught 
to  the  Jewish  youth,  and  yet  they  were  reluctant  to  proceed 
harshly  against  Baruch  Spinoza.  The  fate  of  Uriel  da 
Costa,  too,  was  still  fresh  in  their  memory,  and  they 
dreaded  a  repetition  of  his  sad  story.  First,  therefore,  they 
exerted  every  influence  to  avoid  an  open  break.  They  ad- 
monished the  young  man  to  return  to  his  former  course  of 
life.  They  promised  him  a  yearly  pension  if  he  would  prom- 
ise to  say  no  word  hostile  to  Judaism.  But  Spinoza  could 
not  live  a  life  that  was  not  in  perfect  accordance  with  his 
convictions.  He  insisted  on  full  freedom  of  thought,  and 
speech,  and  conduct.  He  continued  to  express  to  the  Jewish 
youths  of  Amsterdam  views  that  were  antagonistic  to  tradi- 
tional Judaism. 

The  situation  became  daily  more  tense.    There  is  a  story 
that  a  fanatic  even  attempted  to  rid  the  community  of  the 
dangerous  heretic  by  a  dagger-stroke,  but  this  is 
without  historical  proof.    Reconciliation,  however, 
between  Spinoza  and  the  synagogue  was  no  longer 
to  be  hoped  for.     The  refugees   from  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese persecution  had  been  patient  long  enough.     Even  at 
the   moment   when   they   were    pondering   the   case   of    this 
erring  son  of  the  synagogue,  other  children  of  the  ancient 


Uriel  da  Costa  and  Baruch  Spinoza  255 

faith  were  giving  up  their  lives  on  the  pyres  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. And  there  was  still  another  danger.  Spinoza's  con- 
victions were  in  opposition  to  any  creed,  Christian  as  well 
as  Jewish.  Were  the  Jews  of  Amsterdam  to  risk  the  new- 
found toleration  of  Holland  by  seeming  to  sanction  the  utter- 
ances of  this  daring  young  philosopher?  He  was  doubly  a 
source  of  peril,  and  accordingly  the  synagogue  proceeded  to 
the  final  step.  Before  the  open  ark,  in  the  presence  of  the 
assembled  people,  Baruch  Spinoza  was  excommunicated.  Nor 
did  the  matter  end  with  excommunication.  At  the  petition 
of  the  representatives  of  the  Jewish  community  the  civic 
authorities  banished  Spinoza  from  Amsterdam. 

Cut  off  from  his  father,  from  all  his  family,  from 
the  friends  of  his  youth,  Spinoza  still  had  a  refuge  and 
Phiio»o  her  a  cons°lati°n  m  tne  world  of  thought.  Quietly 
and  Grinder  he  went  on  with  his  studies  and  his  inquiries.  To 
F  Lenses.  SUppOrt  himself,  he  set  to  work,  like  the  old  rabbis 
whom  he  had  disavowed,  to  learn  a  handicraft,  so  that  he 
might  keep  his  pursuit  of  the  truth  a  labor  of  love,  and 
not  jeopardize  his  independence  of  thought.  He  chose  a 
handicraft  which  he  could  follow  in  connection  with  his 
mathematical  and  scientific  studies,  one  which  at  his  time 
not  a  few  scholars  followed,  the  grinding  of  lenses  for 
glasses,  microscopes,  and  telescopes.  At  this  he  gained  great 
dexterity,  and  so  he  turned  out  his  lenses  and  lived  mod- 
estly on  the  proceeds  of  his  labor,  while  his  mind  was  search- 
ing for  an  answer  to  the  problems  of  the  universe.  In  a 
poor  little  house  on  a  quiet  village  street  he  wrote  words 
that  will  never  die,  words  that  have  had  a  profound  influ- 
ence on  the  thought  of  the  whole  world.  In  his  own  day 
his  system  of  philosophy  was  condemned  as  atheistic,  "god- 
less," and  the  circulation  of  his  books  was  forbidden.  Since 
his  death,  however,  men  have  seen  that  Spinoza  took  with 
him  from  his  father's  house  and  his  father's  people  a  deep 


256  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

religious  feeling,  and  that  he  found  the  source  of  all  wisdom 
and  all  happiness  only  in  the  knowledge  of  God. 

According  to  his  philosophy,  the  whole  universe  is  only 
an  infinite  succession  of  forms  in  which  God  reveals  Him- 
His  self.  The  name  that  Spinoza  gives  to  God  is  the 

Philosophy,  universal  "Substance."  God  expresses  Himself 
also  in  the  inner  world  of  thought,  which  is  as  real  as  the 
material  world.  Through  man  as  through  nature  God  works 
His  will.  The  highest  virtue  is  passive  submission  to  the  all- 
pervading  law.  These  thoughts  Spinoza  expressed  in  works 
that  have  gained  him  a  place  among  the  master-thinkers  of 
all  time:  his  "Theologico-Political  Treatise,"  in  which  his 
object  was  to  convince  the  nations  that  freedom  of  thought 
can  be  permitted  without  danger  to  religion  or  to  the  peace 
of  the  state;  and  his  "Ethics,"  in  which  he  taught  that  hap- 
piness and  freedom  for  mankind  can  be  reached  only  through 
submission  to  the  will  of  God. 

But  this  is  a  cold  and  comfortless  philosophy.  It  is  sub- 
missive, not  active.  It  is  the  philosophy  of  the  serene  on- 
looker, not  of  the  hero  in  "the  great  battle  of  life.  Judaism 
lays  down  directly  opposite  principles ;  it  emphasizes,  not 
man's  submission,  but  his  freedom  to  choose;  it  regards  man, 
not  as  a  creature,  but  as  a  child  of  God. 

In  spite  of  his  usual  clearness  of  vision,  moreover,  and 
the  habitual  serenity  of  his  mind,  Spinoza's  experience  had 
His  Attitude  embittered  him,  and  his  resentment  against  the 
towards  Amsterdam  Jews  who  had  excommunicated  him 
colored  his  attitude  towards  the  whole  Jewish 
people  and  Judaism.  Yet  he  recorded  his  admiration  of  the 
moral  greatness  of  the  prophets  and  the  pure  democratic 
equality  of  the  Jewish  state,  which  he  held  up  as  a  model 
for  all  states. 

It  is  rather  in  his  life  than  in  his  philosophy  that  Spinoza 
showed  his  kinship  with  the  Jewish  sages  whom  he  studied 
in  his  youth.  Far  from  all  Jewish  associations,  his  life  still 


Uriel  da  Costa  and  Baruck  Spinoza  257 

shone    with    the    virtues    that    his    Jewish    forefathers    held 
dear, — the  warm   heart   which   made  his   humble 

YTtft 

character  neighbors  his  friends,  the  quick  sympathy  with  the 
needy  and  the  sorrowful,  the  peace  of  soul  in  pov- 
erty and  sickness,  the  modesty,  the  mildness,  the  self-control, 
the  steadfast  will  which  kept  him  faithful  to  the  truth  as 
he  saw  the  truth.  When  his  father  died,  his  sisters  denied 
the  right  of  the  excommunicated  brother  to  his  share  of  the 
small  inheritance.  Spinoza  considered  it  his  duty  to  prove 
his  legal  right.  But  when  he  had  forced  his  sisters  to 
acknowledge  his  claim,  he  refused  to  profit  by  it.  For  him 
money  held  no  joy;  he  freely  gave  it  back  to  them.  When 
a  devoted  pupil,  knowing  himself  doomed  to  die  young, 
wished  to  make  Spinoza  his  heir,  the  philosopher  persuaded 
him  not  to  put  aside  the  rightful  claim  of  his  own  kindred. 
And  when  the  young  man  died,  and  his  grateful  heir  de- 
sired to  settle  an  annual  income  upon  Spinoza,  he  refused 
this  also,  only  consenting  at  last,  after  much  persuasion,  to 
a  small  allowance.  An  offer  of  the  chair  of  philosophy  at 
the  University  of  Heidelberg  he  declined,  fearing  that  it 
would  curb  his  freedom  of  thought  and  expression. 

Spinoza's  philosophy  had  no  influence  on  Jewish  thought; 
yet  he  had  learned  much  from  Jewish  thinkers.  His  life 
His  Relation  was  ru^e(l  by  convictions  that  lay  outside  any 
to  Jewish  creed;  yet  he  owed  much  to  his  Jewish  heritage. 
His  character  drew  not  a  little  of  its  unassuming 
friendliness,  its  quiet  heroism,  and  its  unswerving  upright- 
ness from  the  race  to  whose  strength  and  beauty  of  soul  he 
was  sometimes  blind.  And  the  mediaeval  philosophers  of  his 
student  days,  Moses  Maimonides  and  Ibn  Ezra,  trained  his 
mind  for  the  daring  flights  of  thought  on  which  it  was  later 
to  venture. 

For  our  present  purposes,  however,  we  are  less  interested 
in  Spinoza,  great  as  he  was,  than  in  the  Jews  who  felt  it 
necessary  to  sever  his  connection  with  the  community.  We 


258  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

have  seen  in  them  the  unwilling  pupils  of  a  persecuting  age, 
and  in  their  over-zealous  defense  of  their  religion  a  natural, 
although  deplorable  effect  of  their  terrible  sufferings  for  its 
sake.  With  their  tragic  memories,  the  victims  of  Spanish 
tyranny  prized  so  highly  their  new  gift  of  freedom  to  hold 
to  their  religion  in  the  sight  of  all  men,  that  we  have  found 
them  bitterly  resentful  of  any  departure  from  the  tenets  of 
their  ancestral  faith.  And  it  is  this  jealous  watchfulness  that 
brings  into  prominence  in  our  history  these  two  men  who 
otherwise  had  no  influence  on  the  development  of  Judaism. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

URIEL  DA   COSTA. 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  X,  pp.  407-410. 
Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  V,  p.  56  ff. 
Gutzkow,  Karl:     Uriel  Acosta,  a  play  in  five  acts. 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.   I,   p.  167,  Article  Acosta,   Uriel. 
Kayserling,   M. :     Geschichte  d.  Juden  in  Portugal,  p.  286  ff. 
Zangwill,  Israel:    Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto,  pp.  68-114. 

SPINOZA 

Freudenthal,   Jacob:      Spinoza,    sein   Leben   u.   seine   Lehre.      (This 
is  the  standard   work  on  the  life  of   Spinoza.) 

Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  X,  Ch.  6. 

Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  V,  p.  886 ff. 

Jacobs,  Joseph:    Jewish  Ideals,  pp.  49-56. 

Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  XI,  p.  511,  Article  Spinoza,  Baruch. 

Schindler,  S. :    Dissolving  Views,  pp.  215-227. 


XXIV. 
MOSES  MENDELSSOHN. 

Even  in  the  enlightened  eighteenth  century,  the  story 
of  the  suffering  of  the  Jews  for  their  faith  was  not  ended. 
The  The  stake  and  the  rack  were,  it  is  true,  losing 

Eighteenth  their  popularity  as  proper  instruments  for  hand- 
ling unbelievers;  but  the  Jews  were  still,  in  most 
of  the  countries  of  Europe,  an  outcast  race.  Only  in  Hol- 
land and  in  England  did  they  enjoy  comparative  freedom. 
Everywhere  else,  especially  in  German-speaking  countries, 
they  were  hooted  at  and  stoned  in  the  streets,  hemmed  in  by 
the  walls  of  the  ghetto,  excluded  from  agriculture,  the 
trades,  and  the  professions,  barred  from  the  universities, 
denied  public  office,  forced  into  mean  occupations. 

All  this  persecution  left  its  mark  on  the  mind  and  the 
soul.  With  no  means  to  defend  himself  against  the  over- 
The  Effects  whelming  numbers  of  his  oppressors,  the  Jew 
of  bowed  his  head  and  slunk  in  the  shadows:  in 

lon'     obscurity  he  avoided  unnecessary  risk.    And  with  I 
his  dignity  of  bearing  went  his  pride  in  his  personal  appear- 1 
ance.     The  Jew  had  gone  into  the  ghetto  refined  in  manner, 
scrupulously  careful  in  all  details  of  dress  and  personal  clean- 
liness, precise  and  cultured  in  speech.     It  took  three  cen- 
turies   of   the    "ghetto's    plague,"    "the    garb's    disgrace"    to 
make  him  indifferent  to  his  appearance,  careless  in  his  speech. 

"The  heaviest  burden  that  men  can  lay  on  us,"  Spinoza 

259 


260  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

had  said,  "is  not  that  they  persecute  us  with  their  hatred 
and  scorn,  but  that  they  thus  plant  hatred  and  scorn  in  our 

souls."  The  Jew  of  the  early  Middle  Ages  had 
Tolerance  of  been  broadly  tolerant.  "Christians  are  not  idola- 
the  Mediaeval  tors"  was  the  burden  of  many  Jewish  utterances  ; 

"they  make  mention  of  Jesus,  but  their  thought 
is  to  the  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth."  Maimonides,  fleeing 
for  his  life  from  the  persecuting  Moslems  of  Cordova,  still 
could  say,  "The  teachings  of  Jesus,  and  of  Mohammed  who 
arose  after  him,  help  to  bring  about  the  looked-for  time  of 
the  perfection  of  all  mankind,  so  that  all  may  serve  God 
with  one  consent.  For  since  the  whole  world  is  thus  full 
of  the  words  of  the  Messiah,  of  the  words  of  the  Holy  Writ 
and  the  Commandments  —  these  words  have  spread  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth,  even  if  any  man  deny  the  binding  char- 
acter of  them  now.  And  when  the  Messiah  comes,  all  will 
return  from  their  errors.*'  In  those  times  the  Jews  had 
always  had  an  open  mind  for  the  currents  of  thought  in  the 
world  about  them.  They  had  taken  to  themselves  what  was 
best  in  Greek  thought  and  Mohammedan  philosophy.  The 
great  scholars  of  Spain  had  been  men  of  broad  culture. 
They  had  wanted  to  know  all  that  the  sciences  could  teach 
them,  all  that  was  being  accomplished  in  their  own  time. 
And  this  culture  they  had  not  kept  to  themselves;  they  had 
played  a  large  part  in  spreading  the  thought  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Mohammedans,  to  say  nothing  of  their  own  Hebrew 
heritage,  throughout  Christian  Europe. 

But  the  Jew  of  the  Middle  Ages  had  beheld  the  Christian 
in  his  ugliest  aspects,  —  in  pillage  and  massacre,  in  injustice 
The  Acquired  an(*  mnumamty.  It  is  only  natural  that  the  ordi- 

nary  Jew  came  to  reciprocate  the  feelings  with 


of  'the  Je*      wm'cn  he  was  regarded,  that  he  gave  scorn  for 

Eighteenth      scorn,  that  he  profoundly  distrusted  the  culture 

of    the    oppressor.      To    all    free    exchange    of 

thought,  too,  the  ghetto  had  put  an  end.    Denied  all  contact 


Moses  Mendelssohn 


261 


Moses   Mendelssohn. 


262  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

with  the  outside  world,  the  Jews  naturally  lost  touch  with 
the  movements  of  their  time.  Driven  in  so  long  upon  them- 
selves, they  came  to  find  their  own  resources  all-satisfying. 
•They  no  longer  wished  to  share  the  thoughts  of  a  civilization 
which  they  beheld  at  its  worst, — in  its  violent  persecutions 
and  its  cramping,  crippling,  maddening  restrictions. 

This  was  the  state  of  the  Jews  of  Europe  when,  in  1743, 
there  knocked  upon  the  Jews'  Gate  of  Berlin  a  weakly  lad. 
For  five  days  the  boy  had  painfully  trudged  the 
Mendelssohn  weary  miles  that  lay  between  Dessau,  his  birth- 
place, and  Berlin,  the  city  of  his  dreams.  The 
watchman  at  the  gate,  whose  duty  it  was  to  refuse  admis- 
sion to  wayfarers  without  means  of  support,  was  inclined  to 
turn  the  shabby  little  hunchback  harshly  away.  Fortunately 
the  boy  managed  to  stammer  out  bashfully  that  he  knew 
David  Frankel,  the  rabbi  of  Berlin,  who  had  shortly  before 
been  called  from  Dessau,  and  that  he  wished  to  enroll 
himself  as  a  pupil  in  the  rabbi's  classes.  This  was  a  kind 
of  recommendation,  and  the  watchman  permitted  the  lad  to 
enter  Berlin. 

Fourteen  years  before,  in  1729,  Moses  Mendelssohn  had 
been  born  in  a  humble  house  on  a  poor  street  in  Dessau. 
His  father,  Mendel,  was  a  scribe,  and  earned  a 
scant  livelihood  by  copying  scrolls  of  the  Law. 
In  spite  of  poverty,  however,  the  parents  care- 
fully educated  their  gifted  son.  The  father  was  the  boy's 
first  teacher,  and  when  he  could  teach  the  child  no  more  he 
sent  him  to  school.  There  is  a  story  that,  on  winter  morn- 
ings, the  mother  would  wrap  the  frail  little  student  in  a 
great  old  cloak  of  her  own,  and  that  the  father  would  then 
carry  him,  bundled  safe  from  the  cold,  through  the  bleak 
streets  to  the  schoolroom.  It  was  a  piece  of  good  fortune 
for  Moses  that  he  soon  came  into  the  classes  taught  by  the 
rabbi  himself.  David  Frankel  was  a  distinguished  scholar, 
especially  well  acquainted  with  the  treasures  of  mediaeval 


Moses  Mendelssohn  263 

Jewish  literature.  He  not  only  taught  his  eager  pupil  the 
Bible  and  the  Talmud,  but  early  introduced  him  to  the  phil- 
osophical commentators.  Of  these,  Maimonides  attracted 
the  boy  most,  exerting  a  powerful  influence  on  his  intel- 
lectual development.  Maimonides  gave  the  young  student 
what  he  had  given  Spinoza  a  hundred  years  earlier,  the 
foundation  of  his  own  philosophical  system.  In  after  years, 
Mendelssohn  often  playfully  referred  to  his  hump  as  a  legacy 
from  Maimonides.  "Maimonides~spoilt  my  figure,"  he  would 
say,  whimsically,  "and  ruined  my  digestion;  but  still  I  dote 
on  him,  for  although  those  long  vigils  with  him  weakened 
my  body,  they  at  the  same  time  strengthened  my  soul:  they 
stunted  my  stature,  but  they  developed  my  mind." 

Times  were  hard  in  the  ghetto,  and  boys  no  older  or 

stronger  than  Moses  were  eking  out  the  meager  family  in- 

come by  peddling,  but  Moses'  love  of  books  was 

A    Loring  r       ,  .    °       . 

so  great  and  his  desire  to  become  a  man  of  learn- 


ing, like  his  beloved  master,  was  so  strong,  that 
the  devoted  father  was  persuaded  to  let  the  lad  continue 
his  studies.  Then  David  Frankel  had  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment as  Chief  Rabbi  of  Berlin.  On  a  hill  outside  Dessau 
the  little  disciple  had  stood,  weeping  bitterly.  But  the  kind- 
hearted  rabbi  had  taken  the  boy  in  his  arms  and  had  com- 
forted him  with  the  hope  that  some  day  they  should  meet  in 
Berlin.  And  so  the  lad  had  won  his  parents'  reluctant  con- 
sent, and,  some  six  months  later,  had  set  out  after  his 
teacher. 

"Bread  with  salt  shalt  thou  eat,  water  by  measure  shalt 
thou  drink,  upon  the  hard  earth  shalt  thou  sleep,  and  a  life 
*  anxi°usness  sna^  tnou  liye»  and  labor  in  the 


Hi   M  de 

of  Life.          study  of  the  Law."     This  had  been  the  portion 

of  many  a  Jewish  scholar  from  the  time  of  Hillel, 
and  now  young  Moses  Mendelssohn  faced  joyfully  the  priva- 
tions of  a  poor  student's  life.  The  good  rabbi  did  what  he 
could  for  the  boy  —  provided  him  with  his  dinner  on  Sab- 


264  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

baths  and  festivals,  and  induced  another  kind-hearted  Jew 
to  supply  two  dinners  during  the  week  and  to  let  the  boy 
sleep  in  an  attic  in  his  house.  The  rabbi  was  able,  too,  to 
put  the  lad  in  the  way  of  earning  a  few  pennies,  by  em- 
ploying him  to  copy  his  commentary  on  the  Jerusalem  Tal- 
mud in  the  beautiful  handwriting  which  Moses  inherited 
from  his  father,  the  Torah  scribe.  With  these  few  coins 
the  boy  would  buy  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  notch  it  off  into 
sections,  so  that  hunger  might  not  betray  him  into  eating  one 
day  the  slice  that  must  be  saved  for  the  next.  Often  he 
went  supperless  to  bed;  but  if  his  body  suffered,  his  mind 
throve.  He  continued  with  Frankel  his  study  of  the  Tal- 
mud and  the  commentaries,  developing  especially  under  the 
guidance  of  that  other  teacher,  no  less  real  to  the  ardent 
student  because  separated  by  centuries:  Maimonides'  "Guide 
to  the  Perplexed"  Mendelssohn  read  again  and  again. 

But  there  was  still  other  knowledge  for  which  the  young 

man  craved.     In  spite  of  the  prohibition  of  the  ghetto,  he 

j!  wanted  to  be  a  man  of  broad  culture.     Nor  was 

Forbidden      8 

Learning.  he  the  only  young  Jew  who  felt  an  overpowering 
desire  to  know  all  that  the  world  could  teach 
him.  From  his  scanty  earnings  he  saved  money  to  buy 
books,  denying  himself  food  for  his  body  that  he  might 
have  food  for  his  mind.  These  books  he  brought  secretly 
to  his  garret,  and  pored  over  them  while  others  slept.  With 
a  young  schoolmaster  from  Poland  he  studied  mathematics, 
and  a  young  Jewish  physician  was  his  instructor  in  Latin. 
He  found  yet  another  teacher  in  a  medical  student  who  gave 
him  lessons  in  French  and  German  and  awoke  in  him  a  love 
for  good  literature. 

After   seven   years   of   privation    and   hard    work   better 

times  came.    A  rich  silk  manufacturer,  a  prominent  member 

of  the  Berlin  congregation,  attracted  by  the  young 

Better  Times.  ,  .  '      .  .          t- 

man  s    diligence,    engaged    him    as    tutor    for   his 
children.    At  the  home  of  this  kind  and  cultured  man  Men- 


i.    Moses  Mendelssohn  265 

delssohn  found  leisure  for  study.  At  the  end  of  four  years 
of  faithful  tutoring,  he  became  his  employer's  bookkeeper; 
then,  as  the  years  went  on,  a  manager;  and  at  last  a  partner 
in  the  firm.  And  while  he  conscientiously  fulfilled  his  duties, 
he  continued  his  studies.  He  regretted  the  hours  that  he  had 
to  spend  away  from  his  books,  but  so  long  as  business  did 
not  cool  his  ardor  for  learning,  he  did  not  complain  too  bit- 
terly. And  his  love  of  study  certainly  lost  none  of  its 
youthful  fire.  Without  college  or  university,  without  regular 
instructors,  he  untiringly  made  his  knowledge  broader.  In 
his  scant  hours  of  leisure  he  had  by  this  time  learned  Ger- 
man, French,  English,  Latin,  and  Greek,  mathematics  and 
philosophy.  History  alone  had  no  attraction  for  him,  prob- 
ably because  he  could  not  turn  a  page  of  it  without  being 
reminded  of  the  sorrows  his  race  had  endured  for  centuries 
in  every  land,  in  no  land  finding  a  resting-place.  His  own 
resting-place  he  found  in  philosophy.  In  the  world  of 
thought  he  found  his  true  home.  Philosophy  was  his  favor- 
ite study;  and  at  every  period  of  his  life — as  pupil  in  the 
Talmud  school,  as  tutor,  as  man  of  business,  as  scholar — 
he  turned  to  it  for  consolation  and  for  guidance. 

These    cultivated    tastes    drew    Mendelssohn    among    the 
intellectual  young  Jews  of  Berlin,  who  met  over  a  game  of 

chess  to  discuss  philosophy  and  literature.  When 
the  wise."  Gotthold  Ephraim  Lessing  came  to  Berlin,  the 

two  men  became  acquainted.  Lessing,  the  most 
liberal  of  German  authors,  the  most  uncompromising  foe  of 
every  form  of  intolerance,  was  not  ashamed  to  associate  with 
the  despised  Jews.  He  had  already  shown,  in  his  drama, 
"The  Jews,"  his  belief  that  an  outcast  Jew  could  be  un- 
selfish and  noble,  and  now  between  the  Jew  and  the  Chris- 
tian an  intimate  and  life-long  friendship  began,  which  influ- 
enced both  men  profoundly.  It  gave  Lessing  a  model  for 
the  ideal  character  of  the  Jew  in  his  great  drama,  "Nathan 
the  Wise."  Lessing's  hero  is  a  man  of  sorrows,  sorely  per- 


266  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

secuted.  His  wife  and  seven  sons  have  all  been  slain  by 
the  Crusaders  in  the  massacre  of  the  Jews  of  Jerusalem. 
Yet  Nathan  can  take  to  his  home  and  to  his  heart  the  little 
Christian  girl,  the  orphaned  Recha,  and  bring  her  up  with 
loving  care.  At  the  wealth  of  this  good  man  the  Sultan, 
Saladin,  in  sore  need  of  money,  casts  covetous  eyes.  He 
will  entrap  the  Jew  by  putting  to  him  a  question  which  he 
can  not  answer  without  falling  into  the  power  of  the  sultan: 
Which  of  the  three  religions  is  the  true  one — the  Jewish, 
the  Mohammedan,  or  the  Christian? 

But  Nathan  the  good  is  also  Nathan  the  Wise,  and  he 

asks  permission  to  tell  the  sultan  a  story.     He  tells  of   a 

ring  of  miraculous  power;  it  has  the  gift  of  ren- 

The  Story  of  °  K  '  / 

the  Rings.  dering  its  possessor  beloved  of  God  and  man, 
provided  he  wear  it  with  perfect  faith.  This 
ring  belongs  to  the  father  of  three  sons,  all  of  whom  he 
loves  equally  well,  so  that  he  can  not  bear  the  thought  of 
giving  the  precious  jewel  to  one  and  not  to  the  others. 
Accordingly  he  has  two  other  rings  made  so  exactly  like 
the  original  ring  that  he  himself  can  scarcely  distinguish 
among  them.  To  each  son  he  gives  a  ring.  After  the  father's 
death,  however,  each  son  declares  that  his  ring  is  the  true 
ring,  and  at  last  the  quarrel  grows  vehement  and  the  brothers 
bring  it  to  a  judge.  The  wise  man  rebukes  them  for  their 
strife  and  counsels  them,  "Let  each  of  you  vie  with  the 
other  two  to  manifest  the  magic  of  the  gem  in  his  own  ring 
by  gentleness,  concord,  benevolence,  and  zeal  in  the  service 
of  God."  He  points  to  a  time  in  the  far  distant  future  when 
a  wiser  Judge  will  render  the  final  decision. 

Saladin  recognizes  the  truth  of  the  parable,  and  is  com- 
pletely won  over  by  the  wisdom  and  the  tolerance  of  the 
Jew.     Indeed,  Christian  as  well  as  Mohammedan 

The  Triumph    ,  .  .^ 

of  the  jew.     has  to  acknowledge  the  Jew  s  wider  view.     Even 

the  hot-headed  young  Templar  is  influenced,  and 

his  arrogant  prejudice  against  the  Jews  vanishes  when  he 


Moses  Mendelssohn  267 

comes  to  know  Nathan.  All  abandon  their  hostility,  and 
the  end  of  the  play  sees  them  all  united  with  the  Jew  in 
bonds  of  harmony  and  peace. 

This  Nathan,  mild,  calm,  modest,  broad-minded,  a  noble 
contrast  to  the  fanatical  Christians  of  the  drama,  the 
The  Demand  Preacner  of  a  tolerance  born  of  love  for  all,  is 
of  justice  Lessing's  picture  of  his  friend,  Moses  Mendels- 
for  the  jew.  &Q^  And  ^^  Qn  j^^f  of  the  people  to  whom 

his  friend  belonged,  Lessing  bravely  faced  the  furious  in- 
tolerance of  his  time  and  boldly  demanded  justice  for  the  Jew. 
And  Lessing  did  much  to  draw  out  Mendelssohn  himself)/ 
Through  the  great  dramatist,  the  Jew  was  introduced  into 
«  j  ,  ^e  circle  of  the  literary  men  of  Germany,  and 

Mendelssohn  * 

in  German      lost  some  of  the  shyness   and  the  awkwardness 


°*  t^ie  £netto-  His  appearance  was  not  such  as 
to  make  him  at  ease  in  society.  He  was  a  hunch- 
back; he  stuttered.  Only  the  noble  forehead  and  the  glow- 
ing eyes  betrayed  the  soul  of  the  thinker.  Lessing  encour- 
aged him,  too,  to  put  his  philosophical  studies  into  writing. 
And  Mendelssohn  now  devoted  himself  to  acquiring  an  at- 
tractive German  style.  He  was  a  Jew,  but  he  was  a  Ger- 
man also  ;  and  as  a  German  Jew  he  considered  it  his  right 
and  his  duty  to  speak  the  language  of  the  country  in  which 
he  was  born.  Before  he  had  known  Lessing  a  year,  he  was 
able  to  compose,  in  excellent  German,  philosophical  treatises 
which  gained  him  favorable  notice  from  the  great  men  of 
his  day.  Indeed,  he  acquired  so  remarkable  a  feeling  for  the 
beautiful  in  German  literature  that  he  was  recognized  by 
the  Germans  as  a  judge  in  questions  of  taste.  He  was  in- 
vited to  join  the  staff  of  one  of  the  most  important  German 
literary  journals,  and  he  soon  became  the  soul  of  the  under- 
taking. 

In  this  magazine  he  not  only  published  his  own  studies, 
but  he  also  reviewed  the  latest  books.  His  critical  judgment 
was  always  sound  and  impartial.  His  special  aim  was  to 


268  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

arouse  and  strengthen  the  literary  consciousness  of  the  Ger- 
A  Critic  of  mans-  The  homeless  Jew  sought  to  awake  in  the 
the  Poetry  Germans  the  loyalty  that  is  due  to  the  mother 
of  a  Kmg.  tongue.  He  reproached  them  for  neglecting  theif 
own  genius  and  aping  French  culture.  He,  the  barely  tol- 
erated Jew,  dared  criticise  adversely  even  the  poems  of  so 
exalted  a  personage  as  Frederick  the  Great.  A  courtier, 
shocked  at  such  audacity,  denounced  the  Jew  as  having 
"thrown  aside  all  reverence  for  the  most  sacred  person  of 
His  Majesty  in  insolent  criticism  of  his  poetry."  The  luck- 
less critic  was  summoned  to  the  king's  palace  to  answer  for 
his  offense.  But  his  adroit  answer  disarmed  the  king  of  his 
wrath.  "He  who  makes  verses,"  said  Mendelssohn,  "plays 
at  ninepins,  and  he  who  plays  at  ninepins,  be  he  monarch 
or  peasant,  must  be  satisfied  with  the  judgment  of  the  boy 
who  has  charge  of  the  bowls  as  to  the  merit  of  his  playing." 
It  was  probably  this  incident,  however,  which  led  Frederick 
to  withhold  from  Mendelssohn  for  a  long  time  the  privilege 
of  being  a  "protected  Jew."  For  Mendelssohn  was  not  a 
born  Prussian,  and  so,  according  to  the  humiliating  law,  he 
could  stay  in  Prussia  only  while  he  was  under  the  protection 
of  a  Prussian  Jew.  A  cultivated  Frenchman  at  Frederick's 
court,  who  knew  Mendelssohn  well,  was  astounded  to  learn 
that  Jews  of  Mendelssohn's  type  could  be  driven  from  the 
city.  He  could  not  believe  that  so  learned  a  man,  so  highly 
honored  by  all  right-minded  people,  could  be  so  humiliated. 
He  urged  Mendelssohn  to  allow  him  to  present  to  the  king 
a  petition  that  Mendelssohn  be  made  a  "protected  Jew."  At 
first  Mendelssohn  would  not  hear  of  it.  He  could  not  en- 
dure the  thought  of  begging  as  a  favor  what  should  be  his 
right  as  a  law-abiding  citizen.  Nor  did  he  wish  to  enjoy  a 
privilege  that  the  humblest  and  poorest  of  his  co-religionists 
could  not  share.  At  last  he  submitted,  only  when  he  was 
persuaded  that  it  would  be  for  the  good  of  his  family.  And 


Moses  Mendelssohn  269 

then  came  the  long,  humiliating  wait  upon  the  good  pleasure 
of  the  king. 

In  his  thirty-third  year  Mendelssohn  had  married,  and 
then  began  an  ideally  happy  married  life.  It  began  mod- 
i-he Married  est^  enough  m  a  ^^  house,  the  main  furniture 
Life  of  of  which  was  twenty  china  apes,  life-size.  This 
lohn-  was  no  matter  of  choice  on  the  part  of  the  newly 
married  couple;  it  was  one  of  the  vexatious  extra  taxes  im- 
posed upon  the  Jews  of  Prussia.  Every  Jewish  bridegroom 
was  obliged  to  purchase  a  large  quantity  of  china  for  the 
support  of  the  king's  manufactory;  and  he  had  to  take,  too, 
what  the  manufactory  wished  to  sell.  In  spite  of  its  gro- 
tesque ornaments,  however,  the  modest  home  soon  became' 
a  meeting-place  for  the  cultured  world  of  Berlin.  Poets  and 
scholars,  publishers  and  diplomats,  sought  Mendelssohn  out. 
A  distinguished  writer  tells  a  story  of  what  happened  when 
he  was  one  of  a  great  many  guests  at  Mendelssohn's  house. 
As  darkness  fell,  that  winter  afternoon,  the  guests  missed 
Mendelssohn  and  his  wife  from  the  room.  Suddenly, 
through  an  open  door,  the  visitors  saw  in  an  adjoining  room 
the  gleam  of  the  Sabbath  candles,  and  Frau  Mendelssohn 
pronouncing  the  blessing  over  them.  A  holy  awe  came  over 
the  guests  when  they  saw  the  great  philosopher,  whose  spirit 
soared  to  the  heights  and  plumbed  the  profoundest  depths 
of  thought,  bowed  in  humility  before  his  God. 

Honors  poured  in  upon  him.    When  the  Berlin  Academy 
offered  a  prize  for  an  essay  upon  the  question,  "Are  meta- 
physical truths  susceptible  of  mathematical  demon- 
winner,          stration?"  Mendelssohn  set  to  work  on  the  prob- 
lem, so  modestly  that  he  wished  to  withdraw  wherw 
he  learned  of   the  brilliant   scholars   who   were   competing. 
Yet  his  work  won  the  prize,  although  one  of  the  contestants 
was  Kant,  later  to  become  the  world-famous  philosopher. 

Mendelssohn   won   still   greater   renown    from   his   book, 
"Phaedon,  or  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul,"  written  to  an- 


270  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

swer  the  doubts  of  the  skeptical  eighteenth  century, 

"The  German  .    .  ,.    -    . 

Plato."  and  to  restore  to  the  cultured  world  its  belief  in 

the  after-life.  It  was  to  be  a  popular  work,  and 
so  Mendelssohn  chose  for  it  the  attractive  form  which  the 
Greek  philosopher  Plato  had  used,  the  dialogue.  He  repre- 
sented Socrates,  in  his  last  hours,  discoursing  upon  the  rea- 
sons for  the  belief  in  immortality.  In  the  first  part  of 
his  book  he  merely  translated  Plato,  but  he  then  went  on 
to  set  forth  all  that  religion,  reason,  and  experience  teach 
in  support  of  a  belief  in  immortality.  For  a  philosophical 
work  the  "Phaedon"  had  unparalleled  success.  In  less  than' 
two  years  it  ran  through  three  German  editions,  and  within 
ten  years  it  had  been  translated  into  English,  French,  Dutch, 
Italian,  Danish,  and  Hebrew.  From  all  sides,  from  priests 
and  preachers,  from  philosophers,  poets,  statesmen,  and 
princes  came  recognition  and  gratitude.  Men  and  women 
thanked  the  Jew  for  carrying  conviction  to  their  hearts  and 
freeing  their  souls  from  doubt  and  despair.  They  called 
him  the  "German  Plato"  and  the  "Socrates  of  the  eighteenth 
century."  No  visitor  of  importance  who  came  to  Berlin 
failed  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  great  celebrity.  Acknowl- 
edgment of  Mendelssohn's  high  standing  as  a  German  author 
came  from  the  Royal  Academy  of  Berlin,  which  extended 
to  him  the  most  exalted  reward  to  which  a  German  man  of 
learning  could  aspire,  an  invitation  to  become  a  member  of 
this  august  body.  But  twice  the  application  was  rejected 
by  the  king  for  no  other  reason  than  that  Mendelssohn  was 
a  Jew.  Yet  the  prejudice  that  Jews  were  hopelessly  ig- 
norant, forever  incapable  of  acquiring  culture,  although  not 
destroyed,  had  been  shaken. 

Among  those  who  testified  to  their  admiration  of  Men- 

,  delssohn  was  a  zealous  minister  of  Zurich,  Lavater,  whose 

enthusiasm,  however,  took  a  form  that  was  most 

Controversy,    painful  to  the  peace-loving  philosopher.     Lavater 

dedicated  to  Mendelssohn  a  translation  which  he 


Moses  Mendelssohn  271 

had  made  of  a  French  work,  "Evidences  of  Christianity," 
and  he  solemnly  adjured  the  Jewish  sage  to  read  it  impar- 
tially and  either  refute  it  publicly  or  else,  if  he  found  it  con- 
vincing, to  do  "what  Socrates  would  have  done,  had  he 
read  the  work  and  found  it  unanswerable."  It  was  a  most 
distressing  situation  for  the  Jew.  Plain  speaking  against 
the  dominant  religion  would  not,  it  is  true,  bring  the  speaker 
to  the  stake  or  drive  him  into  exile,  as  in  an  earlier  day,  but 
it  might  render  still  more  precarious  the  uncomfortable  posi- 
tion of  the  Jews  in  Germany.  Yet  even  the  mild  Mendels- 
sohn, who  hated  all  controversy,  especially  religious  disputes, 
could  not  be  silent.  He  owed  it  to  his  inmost  convictions 
to  make  a  public  answer.  Definitely,  then,  he  replied  to 
Lavater.  He  declared  that  his  faith  in  the  principles  of  his 
own  religion  was  unshakable.  He  emphasized  his  opinion 
that  it  is  by  character  and  not  by  controversy  that  Jews 
should  silence  their  critics.  "The  contemptible  opinion  held 
of  Jews  I  would  desire  to  shame  by  virtue,  not  by  contro- 
versy. My  religion,  my  philosophy,  and  my  standing  in  civil 
life  are  the  weightiest  arguments  for  avoiding  all  religious 
discussion."  He  asserted  that  Judaism,  seeking  no  proselytes 
itself,  should  be  safe  from  the  assaults  of  proselytizers :  "I 
am  so  fortunate  as  to  count  amongst  my  friends  many  a 
worthy  man  who  is  not  of  my  faith.  Never  yet  has  my 
heart  whispered,  'Alas !  for  this  good  man's  soul.'  "  "Why," 
he  asked,  "should  I  convert  him?  ...  Do  I  think  there 
is  a  chance  of  his  being  saved?  I  certainly  believe  that  he 
who  leads  mankind  on  to  virtue  in  this  world  can  not  be 
damned  in  the  next."  He  refused,  then,  to  criticise  "Evi- 
dences of  Christianity"  in  detail,  but  he  declared  boldly  that 
the  arguments  in  the  book  could  easily  be  refuted  and  that 
they  certainly  did  not  cause  his  convictions  to  waver.  Indeed 
with  so  much  dignity  and  self-restraint  did  he  reply  that  the 
over-zealous  preacher  begged  his  forgiveness  for  having 


272  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

placed  him  in  so  awkward  a  position,  entreating  him  to  be- 
lieve that  the  indiscretion  had  not  been  intentional. 

The  dispute,  however,  continued,  other  writers  taking  it 
up,  and  the  strain  told  upon  Mendelssohn's  sensitive  nature 
and  frail  physique. 

By  this  time  Moses  Mendelssohn  had  become,  almost 
unconsciously,  the  foremost  representative  of  his  race.  He 
was  universally  honored  as  man,  as  writer,  as  philosopher. 
The  influ-  He  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  the  most  prominent 


of          and  influential  men  of  his  time.     And  this  influ- 

Mendelssohn's  i  .     ,  ,  . 

>.    Character        ence  he  exerted  for  the  betterment  of  his  down- 
upon  trodden  brethren.     When  Lessing's  "Nathan  the 

Christian  -.IT.      ft  «  /~t,     • 

Opinion  of  Wise  appeared,  many  Christians,  arrogantly  se- 
the  jew.  cure  of  a  monopoly  of  the  virtues  because  of  their 
belief  in  Jesus,  said  that  it  was  altogether  too  impossible  that 
among  a  people  like  the  Jews  a  noble  character  could  be 
found.  But  this  ideal  Jew  was  now  a  well-known  reality, 
an  ornament  not  only  to  the  Jewish  race,  but  to  the  German 
nation.  Through  his  own  personality,  good-mannered,  schol- 
arly, high-minded,  he  was  doing  much  to  silence  opposition 
and  to  banish  prejudice.  And  it  was  just  such  help  as  this 
that  his  race  needed.  Mendelssohn's  own  family  keenly  felt 
the  sting  of  intolerance.  "In  the  evening,"  he  wrote,  "I 
go  out  with  my  wife  and  my  children.  'Father,'  they  cry, 
'why  did  that  fellow  just  call  at  us?  Why  do  they  throw 
stones  at  us?  What  have  we  done  to  them?  They  always 
follow  us  in  the  streets  and  call  "Jews!  Jews!"  Father,  is 
it  wicked  to  be  a  Jew  ?'  "  This  was  the  attitude  towards  the 
Jew,  the  attitude  that  Moses  Mendelssohn  himself  did  much 
to  change  by  his  character  and  his  conduct. 

He  worked  directly  and  actively,  too.  Often  the  op- 
pressed Jews  of  Europe  turned  to  him  for  help,  and  they 
never  appealed  in  vain.  From  the  home  of  Lavater  came  the 
first  cry.  In  "free"  Switzerland  there  were  only  two  places, 
a  half  hour's  journey  apart,  where  Jews  were  tolerated,  and 


Moses  Mendelssohn  273 

when  even  these  Jews  were  threatened  with  new  and  un- 
He  intercede!  bearable  restrictions,  they  begged  Mendelssohn  to 
for  the  intercede  for  them  with  the  influential  Lavater. 
influential  Distasteful  as  it  was  to  Mendelssohn  to  have  any 
christiam.  further  intercourse  with  the  Swiss  preacher,  he 
wrote  to  Lavater,  asking  him  to  use  his  influence  for  the 
oppressed  Jews;  and  Lavater  was  able  to  procure  some  rec- 
ognition of  their  rights.  Again,  when  several  hundred  Jews 
were  about  to  be  expelled  from  Dresden  because  they  could 
not  pay  promptly  the  burdensome  and  humiliating  poll-tax, 
Mendelssohn  interceded  successfully  for  them.  At  another 
time  the  Jews  of  Alsace,  forbidden  almost  every  handicraft 
and  trade;  vexatiously  hampered  in  every  undertaking; 
obliged  to  pay  protection-money  to  the  king,  tribute  to  bishop 
and  duke,  and  residence  taxes  to  the  nobles;  mulcted  for 
every  privilege,  looked  to  Mendelssohn  as  their  only  hope 
in  their  distress.  Now  Mendelssohn  had  a  friend  and  ad- 
mirer in  the  statesman,  Christian  William  Doimi.  This  man 
Mendelssohn  interested  in  the  cause  of  the  Alsatian  Jews 
because  he  believed  that  the  Christian  could,  more  easily 
than  the  Jew,  combat  Christian  prejudice.  Dohm  drew  up 
a  memorial  to  lay  before  the  French  council  of  state;  and 
while  he  was  at  work  on  this  task,  the  thought  struck  him 
that  it  would  be  far  more  helpful  if  he  broadened  his  plea, 
and  presented  it  not  for  the  few,  but  for  the  many,  for  all 
Jews  who  were  suffering  under  similar  oppression.  With 
burning  zeal  he  threw  himself  generously  into  the  good  cause 
of  convincing  his  contemporaries  of  the  necessity  of  civic 
rights  for  the  Jew. 

Thus  originated  the  first  work  to  discuss  scientifically  the 
question  of  Jewish  emancipation,  "Upon  the  Civil  Ameliora- 
Cbristian  tion  of  the  Condition  of  the  Jews"  (1781).  It 
William  js  difficult  for  us  to-day  to  realize  the  heroism 

Dohm's  Work  «_    i     t  *       t    ^.t.       T 

on  Jewish  required  to  speak  a  word  on  behalf  of  the  Jews 
Emancipation.  jn  the  face  of  the  overwhelming  prejudice  against 


274  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

them.  Dohm  dwelt  solely  on  the  political  and  economic 
aspect  of  his  question.  He  pointed  out  that  although  gov- 
ernments spent  large  sums  to  attract  new  citizens,  an  ex- 
ception was  made  in  the  case  of  the  Jews :  in  almost  all 
parts  of  Europe,  residence  was  either  denied  them,  or  granted 
at  an  exorbitant  price.  "Every  guild  would  think  itself  dis- 
honored by  admitting  a  Jew  as  a  member ;  therefore,  in 
almost  every  country,  the  Hebrews  are  disbarred  from 
handicrafts  and  mechanical  arts.  Amidst  such  oppressive 
circumstances,  only  men  of  rare  genius  retain  courage  and 
serenity  to  devote  themselves  to  the  fine  arts  and  the  sci- 
ences. Even  the  rare  men  who  attain  to  a  high  degree  of 
excellence,  as  well  as  those  who  are  an  honor  to  mankind 
through  their  irreproachable  righteousness,  meet  with  re- 
spect only  from  a  few;  with  the  majority  the  most  distin- 
guished merits  of  soul  and  heart  can  never  atone  for  the 
error  of  being  a  Jew."  Dohm  reviewed  the  history  of  the 
Jews  in  Europe, — their  remarkable  culture  among  the  Arabs 
of  Spain,  the  persecutions  they  suffered  in  the  Middle  Ages. 
He  painted  the  Christians  as  cruel  barbarians,  and  the  Jews 
as  illustrious  martyrs.  He  urged  for  the  Jews  equal  rights 
with  other  subjects,  liberty  of  occupation,  free  exercise  of 
their  religion.  He  would  deny  them  only  one  privilege, 
public  office,  fearing  that  the  ability  to  undertake  it  would 
come  only  with  later  generations. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  pamphlet  aroused  bitter 

opposition,    but    scarcely    had    it    appeared    when    Emperor 

Joseph  of  Austria  issued  a  series  of  laws  (1781) 

A  Beginning  -IT  i.-        J         •    •  1 

is  Made.  permitting  the  Jews  m  his  dominion  to  learn 
handicrafts,  arts  and  sciences,  and,  under  certain 
restrictions,  to  follow  agriculture.  The  doors  of  the  uni- 
versities were  thrown  open.  The  irksome  body-tax  was 
abolished.  All  the  special  imposts  which  had  stamped  the 
Jews  as  aliens  and  outcasts  were  remitted.  Complete  citizen- 
ship they  were  still  denied,  nor  might  they  reside  in  those 


Moses  Mendelssohn  275 

cities  from  which  they  had  already  been  banished.  Even  in 
Vienna  they  might  not  dwell,  except  in  a  few  cases  and  on 
payment  of  a  toleration  tax  which  did  not  include  their 
grown-up  sons.  Nor  were  they  suffered  to  have  a  single 
synagogue  in  Vienna.  Still  it  was  a  notable  beginning. 
Clergymen,  scholars,  statesmen,  and  princes  were  turning 
their  attention  to  a  serious  consideration  of  the  Jewish 
question. 

Naturally  hostility  was  not  lacking.  Friendship  for  Juda- 
ism stirred  up  opposition  and  hatred.  In  order  to  answer 
The  Preface  heated  attacks,  Mendelssohn  induced  one  of  his 
to  "Vindkiae  young  friends  to  translate  into  German  the  "Vin- 
diciae  Judaeorum"  of  Manasseh  ben  Israel.  Men- 
delssohn himself  wrote  an  eloquent  preface,  in  which  he 
pleaded  for  toleration,  for  freedom  of  thought,  for  the 
equality  of  all  before  the  law. 

Then,  further  to  vindicate  the  Jewish  character  and  to 
persuade  the  governments  of  Europe  of  the  justice  of  equal 
„  rights  for  the  Jew,  Mendelssohn  wrote  his  cele- 
brated "Jerusalem  or  Upon  Ecclesiastical  Power 
and  Judaism"  (17&Tf.  Boldly  he  urged  emancipation  of 
conscience  and  belief.  And  as  the  first  necessity  for  such 
freedom,  he  demanded  the  separation  of  Church  and  State. 
For  from  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  it  would  follow 
that  no  state  has  the  right  to  shut  out  the  followers  of  any 
religion  from  the  enjoyment  of  civic  rights.  The  state  would 
exercise  upon  religion  only  a  general  supervision,  to  see  that 
no  doctrines  were  taught  which  would  interfere  with  public 
well-being.  And  if  religious  thought  were  to  be  free  from 
interference  by  the  state,  religion  must  free  itself  from  any 
use  of  the  sort  of  power  that  may  belong  to  a  state,  but 
that  certainly  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  true  spirit  of 
religion :  the  exercise  of  the  dread  authority  to  excommuni- 
cate. Mendelssohn  felt  strongly  that  the  use  of  the  ban  by 
Church  or  by  Synagogue  was  contrary  to  the  principle  of 


276  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

that  liberty  of   conscience    for   which   he   was   so   earnestly 
striving. 

Mirabeau,  the  great  French  statesman,  declared  that  the 
"Jerusalem"  should  be  translated  into  all  the  languages  of 
Mirabeau,  a  Europe.  His  admiration  for  its  author  led  him 
Champion  of  to  an  interest  in  all  Jews,  and  he  took  up  their 
cause  with  as  much  warmth  as  Dohm.  In  his 
work,  "Upon  Mendelssohn  and  the  Political  Reform  of  the 
Jews"  (1787),  he  reviewed  the  long,  tragic  history  of  the 
Jews,  calling  attention  to  their  glorious  martyrdom  and  to 
the  disgrace  of  their  persecutors.  He  praised  the  Jews  for 
their  virtues,  and  he  traced  their  failings  to  the  ill-treatment 
which  they  had  suffered. 

:Thus  Mendelssohn  labored  for  the  political  emancipation 
jf  the  Jew,  for  his  recognition  as  a  useful  citizen,  for  his 
right  to  stand  before  the  law  of  the  land  on  the  same  footing 
as  his  Christian  neighbor.  And  thus  his  courage  and  his 
dignity  brought  to  his  side  powerful  Christian  friends,  who 
worked  with  him  to  right  the  wrong  of  centuries. 

And  while  he  strove  to  shatter  the  ghetto  walls  from 
without,  he  bent  his  energies  to  a  similar  task  within.  •  Here, 
The  Language  *°°»  were  hfen  walls  that  kept  the  Jew  from  a 
of  the  knowledge  of  what  his  neighbors  on  the  other 

side  were  accomplishing,  and  that  prevented  those 
neighbors  from  understanding  and  appreciating  the  Jew.  All 
about  him,  for  example,  he  heard  the  German  Jews  getting 
along  awkwardly  with  a  clumsy  mixture  of  Hebrew  and 
German,  neither  the  one  tongue  or  the  other,  but  a  harsh 
combination  of  both.  This  jargon  was  not  without  a  certain 
pathos  and  power  of  its  own,  but  Mendelssohn  wished  the 
Jews  to  speak  a  language  that  would  win  understanding  and 
respect  from  their  neighbors;  he  wished  the  Jews  to  under- 
stand a  language  that  would  open  to  them  the  treasures  of 
modern  thought.  He,  who  was  himself  German  as  well  as 
Jew,  wanted  to  teach  the  German  Jews  the  German  language, 


Moses  Mendelssohn  277 

to  overcome  their  prejudice  against  it  as  the  speech  of  their 
oppressors,  to  persuade  them  to  use  it  as  a  key  to  the  cul- 
ture of  the  modern  world. 

And  in  order  that  he  might  lead  them  to  become  grad- 
ually and  almost  unconsciously  familiar  with  the  language 
HJs  that  they  distrusted,  he  began  by  translating  into^ 

Translations  it  portions  of  the  one  Book  that  there  was  the 
Pentateuch  greatest  likelihood  of  their  reading  in  any  and 
and  the  every  form.  He  had  made  for  his  own  children 
a  translation  of  the  Pejitateuch  and  now  he  pub? 
lished  it  for  all  readers.  He  added  to  it  a  commentary  in 
simple  Hebrew,  in  which  were  given  the  interpretations  of 
the  old  rabbinical  writers,  of  Rashi,  Ibn  Ezra,  Nachmanides, 
and  others.  In  pure  German  the  Jewish  youth  now  read  the 
old  familiar  stories  of  the  beginnings  of  Israel's  history,  and 
the  well-loved  tales  took  on  a  new  interest  from  the  novelty 
and  the  beauty  of  the  form  in  which  they  now  first  appeared. 
The  Pgajjns,  too,  Mendelssohn  put  into  German.  Those 
rabbis  who  regarded  the  reading  of  any  German  book  as  a 
menace,  vehemently  opposed  the  innovation.  They  feared, 
not  without  cause,  that  the  Jewish  youth  would  turn  to  these 
translations  more  to  learn  German  than  to  gain  an  under- 
standing of  the  Bible,  and  that  time  would  be  taken  from 
religious  study  and  given  to  other  subjects.  But  the  young 
students  eagerly  read  the  precious  books  over  and  over,  and 
then  studied  with  increasing  zeal  the  few  German  books  on 
which  they  could  lay  their  hands.  In  a  wonderfully  short 
time  they  had  mastered  the  new  language  and  the  new  litera- 
ture, and  there  soon  arose  a  little  group  of  Jewish  authors 
who  wrote,  not  in  the  Jewish-German  dialect,  but  in  pure 
German. 

Mendelssohn's  translation  had  awakened  new  interest, 
moreover,  not  only  in  the  language  of  the  land,  but,  through 
its  commentary,  in  the  old  classic  Hebrew  which  had  almost 
been  supplanted  by  the  jargon.  Many  of  his  young  followers 


278  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

took  pains  to,  cultivate  a  clear  Hebrew  style.  Particularly 
A  Renascence  mterested  in  Hebrew  was  Hartwig  Wessely,  who 
of  Classical  had  been  associated  with  Mendelssohn  in  the  trans- 
Hebrew,  lation  of  the  Pentateuch.  Wessely  was  like  Men- 
delssohn in  many  respects.  Like  Mendelssohn,  he  was  largely 
self-taught.  He  was  like  Mendelssohn,  too,  in  his  burning 
love  of  knowledge,  in  his  eager  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  his 
"brethren,  and  in  his  unwavering  loyalty  to  Judaism.  He 
had  gained  for  himself  a  knowledge  of  modern  languages, 
of  geography,  of  history.  His  aim,  like  Mendelssohn's,  was 
to  awa^e  the  Jews  to  a  new  intellectual  life.  He,  too,  sought 
to  substitute  a  pure  and  beautiful  speech  for  the  jargon, 
"but  while  Mendelssohn  strove  to  win  the  Jews  for  the  lan- 
guage of  the  country  in  which  they  lived,  Wessely  especially 
desired  to  hear  again  the  sublime  accents  of  classical  Hebrew. 
To  realize  another  of  Mendelssohn's  aims,  Wessely 
worked  with  him  shoulder  to  shoulder.  Both  felt  that  the 
limited  curriculum  of  the  German-Jewish  school 

Secular  ...  . 

Subjects  for    was    no    adequate    preparation    for   the    complex 
Jewish  society  in  which   the  Jew  must  live  and  work. 

Both  struggled  to  overcome  the  ghetto-born  sus- 
picion of  alien  learning,  a  suspicion  that  had  not  hampered 
the  Jewish  mind  when  the  intellect  was  free,  but  had  fas- 
tened itself  upon  it  during  the  long,  cramping  years  of  re- 
striction and  humiliation.  Mendelssohn  succeeded  in  organ- 
izing in  Berlin  a  Jewish  school  in  which  not  only  Bible  and 
'Talmud  were  taught,  but  also  the  modern  languages  and  a 
complete  secular  course  of  study.  Mendelssohn  included  the 
technical  branches  also,  for  now  that  the  Jews  might  hope 
for  the  removal  of  the  restrictions  that  had  kept  them  from 
agriculture  and  the  industries,  he  wished  to  have  them  ready 
to  reenter  these  old  pursuits  so  long  denied  them.  Thus  he 
strove  to  regain  for  the  Jews  all  that  they  had  lost  during 
their  long  imprisonment  in  the  ghetto.  He  longed  to  have 


Moses  Mendelssohn  279 

them  profit  by  every  good  that  hostility  had  withheld  from 
them  during  the  ages  of  persecution. 

In  1786  Moses  Mendelssohn  died.     Seldom  has  the  death 
of  any  man  caused  such  widespread  grief.     Christians  joined  , 
The  with  Jews  in  the  general  sorrow.    The  great  men 

Death  of        of   Germany — Herder,  Kant,   Goethe — testified  to 

Mendelssohn.     thejr  gense   Qf    j^        The   jewg    Q£    Qermany   knew 

that  their  teacher,  adviser,  leader,  representative,  was  gone. 
No  more  would  ambitious  young  Jews,  self-conscious  and 
suffering  from  an  agony  of  shyness,  feel  those  kindly,  en- 
couraging eyes  upon  them,  drawing  out  the  best  that  was  in 
them,  assuring  them  that  the  great  Mendelssohn  understood 
them  and  respected  them.  Yes,  the  Jews  would  miss  him 
sorely — miss  his  gentle  wit  and  humor,  his  open-handed,  self- 
forgetting  charity,  his  generous  friendliness. 

But  he  had  left  them  much.  His  influence  did  not  die 
with  him.  He  had  stirred  the  conscience  of  the  Christians : 
His  Service  largely  through  his  labors,  political  emancipation 
to  his  was  gradually  to  come  to  the  Jews — not  quickly 

or  all  at  once,  not  without  heartbreaking  delays 
and  disappointments — slowly,  but  still  surely.  And  he  had 
roused  the  Jews  to  new  intellectual  life:  he  had  given  them 
one  of  the  languages  of  modern  thought  and  he  had  restored 
to  them  the  language  of  ancient  religious  literature.  He  had 
thrown  open  to  them  the  gates  of  modern  culture.  Again 
they  were  in  contact  with  the  larger  world. 

But  with  the  new  opportunities  came  new  temptations. 

Flattered  by  the  unaccustomed  toleration,  many  German  Jews 

grew    impatient   of    the    slowly    widening    liberty 

Dangers.         and  longed  for  the  unqualified  favor  and  approval 

of  Christian  society,  for  immediate  and  complete 

freedom   from  all  the  hampering  restrictions.     These   Jews 

flung  aside  the  faith  of  the  few  and  the  weak,  and  accepted 

the  faith  of  the  many  and  the  powerful.     Brilliant   young 

men  and  women  who  saw  the  pathways  to  fame  in  literature, 


280  Jewish  Post-Biblical  History 

music,  science — in  every  calling  for  which  their  talents  fitted 
them — still  cruelly  closed  to  the  Jew  but  open  to  the  Chris- 
tian, abandoned  the  religion  which  their  fathers  had  not  for- 
saken even  on  the  rack  or  at  the  stake. 

The  weaker  sons  and  daughters  of  Israel,  however,  were 
not  representative  of  the  new  generation.  The  great  ma- 
The  Task  jority  of  nobler  minds  and  stronger  souls  at- 
of  Modem  tempted  to  solve  the  problem  with  which  civil 
and  intellectual  emancipation  had  confronted  them. 
How  could  they  remain  good  Jews  and  yet  become  good 
citizens  of  the  country  in  which  they  lived?  How  could 
they  hold  fast  to  the  essentials  of  their  religion  and  yet 
share  the  thought  of  the  modern  world?  This  question 
Mendelssohn  had  not  answered:  its  solution  is  the  task  of 
modern  Judaism.  The  Jews  of  to-day  live  the  Jewish  life  in 
the  modern  world,  not  as  outcasts  in  the  hemmed-in  world 
of  the  ghetto,  not  as  aliens  in  lands  of  exile,  but,  for  the 
most  part,  as  free  citizens  of  free  countries.  The  questions 
raised  by  Mendelssohn's  work  as  emancipator  are  still  not 
completely  answered.  The  story  of  Jewish  life  and  thought 
from  his  day  to  ours  is  a  record  of  attempts  to  work  out 
the  great  problem.  The  new  age  finds,  as  every  other  age 
found  before  it,  that  Jewish  tradition  is  a  living  force,  not 
fixed  or  rigid,  but  progressive  and  capable  of  infinite  growth 
and  of  adaptation  to  new  requirements.  The  essentials  re- 
main unchanged;  what  changes  is  only  the  interpretation. 
The  interpretation  of  ages  of  persecution  and  restriction 
merges  into  the  interpretation  of  an  age  of  freedom  and 
enlightenment. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  FURTHER  READING. 

Abbott,  G.  R:    Israel  in  Europe,  pp.  286-300. 
Graetz:     Geschichte,  Vol.  X,  Chs.  1  and  2. 


Moses  Mendelssohn  281 

Graetz:    History  of  the  Jews,  Vol.  V,  Ch.  8.        -Ca««Ju 
Jewish  Encyclopedia:     Vol.  VIII,  p.  479,  Article  Moses  Mendelssohn. 
Karpeles,  G. :     Jewish  Literature  and  Other  Essays,  p.   293. 
Kayserling,  M. :     Moses  Mendelssohn,  sein  Leben  u.  seine  Werke. 
Kohler,  K.:    Jewish  Theology,  pp.  19,  30,  68,  142,  165,  295. 
Philipson,  D.:     Reform  Movement  in  Judaism,  pp.  12-14. 
Schindler,  S. :     Dissolving  Views,  pp.  240-252. 


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INDEX 


KEY  TO  PRONUNCIATION 

a  — a*  in  art  6  — as  in  go 

a  — as  in  at  6  — as  in  not 

*  — as  in  get  ou — as  in  loud 

a  — as  in  fame  u  — as  in  but 

I   — as  in  hit  u  — as  in  rule 

e,i — as  in  greet,  police  I   — as  in  pine 

ch — as  in  doch( German) 


Ab.  ninth  of.  12 

Abba  Areka.  ab'ba  a-ra'ka   (see 

Rab) 

Abraham,    attitude    of    Moham- 
medans   toward.    52 
Abraham     ibn     Ezra     (see     ibn 

Ezra.  Abraham) 
Abravanel,    Isaac,    a-bra-va-neT, 

183,  189-90,  197-8,  226,  237,  245 
Abravanel,  Samuel,  199 
Abydos,  a-bi'dos,  230 
Academies,      Babylonian      (see 

also  Schools),  39 
Academies,      Palestinian       (see 

also  Schools),  7,  37 
"Act  of  Faith"   (see  "Auto  Da 

Fe") 
Accusations       (Black       Death; 

Desecration    of    Host;    Ritual 

Murder),  152-3,  154,  241-3 
Adolphus,    Gustavus    (see    Gus- 

tavus) 

Adrianople,  208 
Aesop,  the  Jewish,  20 
Akiba,   a-ke'ba,    10-17,    22,    25-7, 

31,  140.  162,  210 
Akylas  (see  Aquila) 
Albania.  230 
Albo,  Joseph,  al'bo,  170,  175-82 


Alexandria,   10,  65,  82,   119 

Alfasi,  Isaac,  al-fa'zi,  90-1 

Alfonso  V.  of  Portugal,  190 

Alroy,  David,  al-roy',  225 

"Alroy,  Wondrous  Tale  of,"  226 

Alsace,  166,  273 

America,  South,  239 

Amoraim,  a-mo-ra'im,  35,  44,51, 
147,  210 

Amsterdam,  234-8,  240-1,  248-56 

Amulets,  115 

Anan  ben  David,  51,  58 

Ancona,  207 

Anti-Maimonists,  mi'mon-ists, 
122 

Antioch,  82 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  an-ti'o- 
kus  e-pif'a-nes,  10,  13,  242 

Antwerp,  206,  208 

Apostates  from  Judaism  (see 
also  Conversion  to  Christian- 
ity and  Conversion  to  Mo- 
hammedanism). 132.  146,  174, 
183,  230 

Aquila.  aq'uila.  15 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  a-qui'nas,  121 

Arabia,  51.  54,  55 

Arabians.  51,  53.  78 

Arabic,  63,  70,  74,  80,  84,  99, 
104.  114,  121,  124 

Arabs,  53,  54-5,  64,  66,  69,  71,  99 


285 


286 


Index. 


Aragon,  132,  173,  183,  189 
"Arba  Turim",  ar-ba  tu-rim',  211 
Archaeology,    ar-ki-61'o-gy,    129 
Areka.  Abba,  a-ra'ka,  ab'ba  (see 

Rab) 

Aristotle,  ar'is-tot-1,  74,   119 
Armenia,  71 
Ascarelli,  Deborah,  203 
Asceticism,   a-set'i-sism,  227 
Asher  ben  Jechiel,  ye-chi'el,  211 
Ashi,    a'shi,    42 
Ashkelon,   ash'ke-lon,  82 
Asia  Minor,  19,  25 
Astrology,  106 
Astronomers,  194,  207 
Astronomy,   70,  84,  91,   111,  203 
Assyria,  2,  239 
Augsburg,  164 
Austria,  274 

Auto  Da  Fe,  ou-to  da  fa',  186-7 
Avencebrol,     a-ven-tha-brol',     75 
Avicebron,  a-vi-tha-bron',  75 
Avicembron,  a-vi-them-bron',  75 
Azariah  dei  Rossi,  az-a-ri'a  da'i 

ros'si,   199 


B 


Babylon    (see   also    Babylonia), 

1,  37,  38,  44,  62,  66-9,  71,  103, 

138.  150 
Babylonia,  36,  37,  39,  41,  51,  55, 

57,   119 
Bachya  ibn  Pakuda,  bach-ya  ibn 

pa-ku'da,   84-89,   124,  215 
Badge,  Jewish,   172,  201,  234 
Bagdad,  81-2 

Barcelona,  82,  126,  132,  133,  172 
Bar   Cochba,  koch'ba,   11-13,  23, 

26,  224 
Bar    Coziba,   k6'zi-ba    (see    Bar 

Cochba) 
bar     Isaac     (see    Solomon    bar 

Isaac) 

Basel,  Bishop  of,  166 
Basle,  156 

Beaconsfield,   Lord,  226 
Beliefs,  systems  of,  116,  177 
ben>  Baruch.  ba-ruch'  (see  Meir 

ben  Baruch) 
ben   Meir,   Samuel,   146 


ben  Nathan  (see  Judah  ben 
Nathan) 

ben  Shammua,  sham-mu'a  (see 
Eleazar  ben  Shammua) 

ben  Zakkai  (see  Jochanan  ben 
Zakkai) 

Benjamin  of  Tudela,  81-2 

Berlin,  262,  264-5 

Beruriah,  be-ru'ri-a,  23-5 

Bethar.  12 

"Beth  Joseph",  208,  211-2 

Bible,  Arabic  Translation  of,  63 

Bible.  Greek  Translation  of,  15 

Bible,  interpretation  of,  6,  14-15, 
35,  62-64,  70,  75,  90,  103-5,111, 
116-17,  119-20,  127,  129,  138, 
141,  143-5,  148,  219,  235,  263 

Black  Death,  153 

Black  Stone,  sacred,  53 

Bohemia,  140 

Books,  burning  of,  168 

"Book  of  Roots",  175 

Brazil,  237 

Britain.  11 

Browning,  Robert,  poems  of, 
106,  131,  201 

Bulan,  72,  95 

Bulgarians,  71 


Cabala,  kab'a-la  (see  also  Mys- 
ticism and  "Zohar"),  128,  129, 
135,  215-23,  226-28 

Cairo,  kl'ro,  67,  111-13 

Caliphs,  ka'lifs,  69,  70,  72,  78, 90, 
170 

Canterbury,   Archbishop   of,    154 

"Canterbury  Tales",   154 

Caro,  Joseph,  ka'ro,  205,  208, 
209,  211-16,  220,  227 

Carthaj?e,  2 

Caspian  Sea,  71 

Castile,  90,   134,  183,  189 

Catalonia,  81,  131 

Catholics,  208 

Chanuka,  Feast -of,  59 

Charles  V.,  of  Naples,   199 

Charms  (see  Amulets) 

Chasdai  ibn  Shaprut,  chas'dl  ibn 
shap-rut',  67,  70-2,  189 

Chaucer,   154 


Index. 


287 


Chazars,   cha-zars',   71-2,  95 
China,  239 

"Choice  of  Pearls,   the",  78 
Christiani,      Pablo,     kris-ti-a'nl, 

pab'16,   131,   134,   173 
Christianity     and     Judaism,     37, 

71-2,    75,    96,     115-16,     131-4, 

174-5 
Christians,    15,   68,   75,   90,   97-9, 

109,  132-4,  137,  150-3,  173,  226- 

27,  229,  238 

Christina,  Queen  of  Sweden,  238 
Church,   the,   69,    152,    157,    159, 

171,   174,   183,   188,  201 
Church,  the   (Catholic),   121,231 
Civilization,   Greek,  66 
Clement  VII,   Pope,  226 
Cochba.  Bar,  koch'ba,  (see  Bar 

Cochba) 
Codes    (see    Maimonides,    Caro, 

Jacob  ben  Asher) 
Cologne,    151 

Columbus,  Christopher,  194-5 
Commentaries,  Bible,  60,  104 
Commentary,  124,  129,  135,  138, 

143-4,     146-7,     197-8,     211-12, 

219,  277 

Commentary,  Arabic,  63 
Coirrtnentary,     Mishnah,     114-15, 

116,  123,  175 
Commerce,  81-2 
"Conciliator,   The",  237 
Congregations,    Jewish  (see  also 

Synagogues),  81 
"Constant   Praise",  76 
Constantine,  37 
Constantinople,  71,  82,  206,  228- 

29 
Conversion  to  Christianity  (see 

also     Apostates),     154-5,     162, 

172-4,  231,  279 
Conversion  to  Judaism,  139 
Conversion     to     Mohammedan- 
ism, 230-31 
Cordova,    67-71,    111,    172,    234, 

260 

Cossack,  228,  234 
Costa  (see  Da  Costa,  Uriel) 
Cori,  207 

Councils,  church,  68 
Court,  rabbinical,  84 
Crescas,  kres'kas,  175,  177-8 


Crimean     Peninsula,    kri-me'an, 

71 

Critic,  Bible,  mediaeval,   104 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  240-42,  244 
Crusades,   145,   151-2,   189,  225 
Culture,  66,  75 
Customs,  Jewish,  248 
"Cuzari",  ku-za-ri',  95,  99 
Cyclades,    Duke    of,    sik'la-des, 

207 
Cyprus,  208 


Da   Costa,  Uriel,  247-51 

Damascus,  82,  99 

Daniel,  Book  of,  219 

Dante,  197 

David,  House  of,  38 

Dayyan,  di-yan',  84 

Debates,  public  (see  Disputa- 
tions) 

"Decrees",  139 

"Defence  of  the  Jews",  243,275 

dei  Rossi  (see  Azariah) 

della  Mirandola,  del'la  mi-ran' 
do-la  (see  Pico) 

Delmedigo,  Joseph  Solomon, 
del-ma'di-go,  202 

Denmark,  235 

Descartes,  da-kart',  253 

Desecration  of  Host,  153 

Dessau,  262 

Deuteronomy,  30 

Dictionary,   Hebrew,  64 

Disputations,    132-133,   173 

Diwan,  di-wan',  of  Solomon  ibn 
Gabirol,  81 

Dohm,  William,  273-4 

Dresden,    2/3 

Dutch,  233-5 

"Duties  of  the  Heart",  (see 
"Guide  to  the  Duties  of  the 
Heart") 


Ecclesiastes,  72,  124 
Edward   I.  of   England.   155 
Egypt,  1,  60,  62,  67,  81,  99,  103, 

111,  220 
Eleazar.  4 


288 


Index. 


Eleazar  ben  Shammua,  e-la-a'zar 

ben   sham-mu'a,  27 
Elijah,  220 
Elisha  ben  Abuyah,  e-H'sha  ben 

a-bu'ya,  22 
Emancipation    of    Jews,    273-76, 

279-80 
"Emunot  ve-Deot,"  e-mu'not  ve- 

da'ot,  64 
England,    103,    153-6,    200,    226, 

229,  233,  235,  239-45,  259 
Ensisheim,  166 
Epiphanes,    Antiochus,     e-pif'a- 

nes,    an-ti'o-kus    (see    Antio- 
chus) 

"Ethics",  256 
Ethics,  78,  85 
Europe,   1,  69,   75,  84,   104,   124, 

134,  150,  153,  157 
"Evidences  of  Christianity",  271 
Excommunications,      160,      249, 

254-7 
"Exemplar     Humanae    _Vitae", 

ex-em 'plar  hu-man'i  wi'tl,  251 
Exodus,  30 

Expulsions,  155-6,  189,197,207-8 
Ezekiel,  21 


"Faith    and    Knowledge",    (see 

"Emunot  ve-Deot") 
Ferdinand,   King  of   Spain,   183, 

187-89,  190-1,  195,  205 
Ferrara,  197 
Festivals,  129 
Finance,  70 
"Fons    Vitae",    fons    wi'ti,   74-5, 

121 

Fostat,  112 

"Fountain  of  Life",  74-5,  121 
"Four   Rows",   211 
France,  67,  75,  81,  103,  126,  129, 

134,    137-9,    145,    147,    148-51, 

153,  156,  197,  211,  233 
Francis  I.  of  France,  199 
Frank,  Jacob,  231 
Frankel,  David,  262-4 
Frankfort,    156 
Frederick  the  Great,  268 
French,  143,  147-8 
Fribourg,  fri'burg,  156 


Galicia,  231 
Galileo,  203 
Galutha,  Resh,  rash  ga-lu'tha 

(see  Resh) 

Gamaliel  I,  ga-ma-lT'el,  26 
Gamaliel  II,  27 
Gaonim,  ga-6'nim,  56-8,  62,  65-6, 

104,  115,  117,  127,  137,  138,210 
Gemara,  ge-ma'ra,  43 
Genesis,  178 
Genoa,  82,  203 
Gentiles,   113 
Geometry,  70 
Germans,  157,  267-8 
Germany,    137-39,   145,   148,   150, 

153,    156-7,    164-70,    200,    211, 

229,  233-4,  267,  279 
Gershom  ben  Judah,  ger'shom, 

Rabbi,  138,  139 
Gershom,     ger'shom,     Rabbenu 

(see    also    Gershom    ben    Ju- 
dah), 138,   169 
Ghetto,  161,  170,  200-1,  234,  259- 

60,  263,  276,  278,  280 
Gideon,  240 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  bu-yon',  151 
Goethe,  279 
Gospels,  52 
Gottheil,   Gustav,  76 
Grammar,   study   of,    60,    62,    64, 

104,  115,  124,  138 
Granada,   69,   72,   80,    126,    188-9 
Greece,  81-2 
Greeks,  63,   71,  238,  260 
"Guide    to    the    Duties    of    the 

Heart",  84-5,  89,  215 
"Guide   to   the    Perplexed",    119, 

121-24,  128 
Guilds,  157 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  238 


H 


Hadrian,  10-12,  16,  26 
Haggadah,   hag-ga'da,   43-5,    133, 

202 

Haggadah.  Passover,  14 
Halachah,    ha-la'cha,    43-4,    129, 

213,  215 


Index. 


289 


Halevi,  Judah,  ha-la'vi   (see  Ju- 

dah   Halevi) 

Ha-Nasi.  ha-na'si  (see  Judah) 
Head  of  the  Exile,  66 
Hebrew,   70,  75,  80,  85,  90,  99, 

104,    106,    121,    124,    143,    147, 

157,  197,  199 
Hegira,  he-ji'ra,  53 
Heidelberg,   University   of,  and 

Spinoza,  257 
Heine,  Heinrich,  45,  78,  100, 107, 

161 

Henry  IV.  of  Germany,  145, 151 
Herder,  279 
Hillel,  2,  6,  8,  16,  26,  29,  31,  122, 

140,  263 

Historian,  Arabian,  112 
History,  commercial,  81 
History,  political,  82 
Holland  (see  also  Netherlands), 

229,  233,  237,  242,  244-7,  255, 

259 

"Holy  Cross  Day",  201 
Holy   Land,   134,   145,   165,   167, 

215 

Host,   desecration   of    (see   Ac- 
cusations) 

"House  of  Joseph",  208,  211 
Hugh  of  Lincoln,  154 


ibn    Ezra,   Abraham,   102-6,   147, 

253,  257,  277 
ibn  Ezra,  Moses,  80,  107 
ibn  Gabirol,  ga-bi'rol,  74,  75,  78, 

80,  84,  91,   107,  121,  124 
ibn  Adiya,  a-di'ya   (see  Samuel 

ibn  Adiya) 
ibn  N  a  g  d  e  1  a  .    nag-da'la    (sec 

Samuel  ibn  Nagdela) 
ibn  P  a  k  u  d  a  ,    pa-ku'da    (see 

Bachya) 
ibn  Shaprut,  sha-prut'(see  Chas- 

dai) 

ibn  Tibbon,  Judah,  85,  124 
ibn  Tibbon,  Samuel  (see  Samuel 

ibn   Tibbon) 
Ibrahim,  ib'ra-him,  52 
"Ikkarim",  ik-ka-rim',  175 
Immanuel  of  Rome,  197 


"Improvement     of     the     Moral 

Qualities",  78 
India,  69,   194 
Indian  Ocean,  81 
Indians,   American,  239 
Indies,  195,  234 
Inquisition,    183,    196,    227,    233, 

235,  239,  247,  249,  251,  255 
Isaac  ben  Meir,  ma'ir,  146 
Isabella  of  Castile,  183,  188,  192, 

195 

Isaiah,  105,  223,  231 
Islam,  is-lam',  52,  55,  71,  96,  111 
Israel,  17,  239 
"Israel's   Hope",  239 
Italian,  197 
Italy,  81,  103,  151,  198,  200,  203, 

209,  229,  233 

"Itinerary",  i-tm'er-a-ry,  81 
"Ivanhoe",  48 


Jacob,  13 

Jacob  ben  Asher,  211 

Jacob  ben  Meir  Tam,  ma'ir,  146 

Jaime  III,  zhl'me,  194 

James,  King  of  Aragon,  132 

Jamnia,  4-6,  8,   10,   150,  234 

Jeremiah,  38,  41,  223,  231,  242 

"Jerusalem  or  Upon  Ecclesias- 
tical Power  and  Judaism",  275 

Jerusalem,  1-5,  7,  8,  10-14,  37, 
53,  93,  99,  135,  151,  209,  217, 
220,  228-29,  234,  275-6 

Jesus,  97,  131-3,  173,  179,  224, 
231,  260 

"Jews,  the",  265 

Joao  Miquez,  zho-oun  mi'keth 
(see  Nasi) 

Job,  Book  of,  95 

Jochanan  ben  Nappacha,  jo'cha- 
nan  ben  nap-pa  cha,  36,  41 

Jochanan  ben  Zakkai,  jo'cha- 
nan  ben  zak'kl,  1-8,  26 

ToDpe.  4 

lose  ben  Chalafta.  jo'sa  ben  cha- 
laf'ta,  27 

Joseph,   Emperor  of  Austria,  274 

"Joseph    the    Dreamer",   202 

Tehuda  ben  Halevy,  ha-la'vi  (see 
Tudah  Halevi) 


290 


Index. 


Judah  ben  Nathan,  146 

Judah  Halevi,     ha-la'vi,     90-100, 

102,   105-7,   124,  135,   168,   178, 

209 
Judah   ha-Nasi,   ha-na'si,   26,   31, 

35-6,   39,   41-42,    117,    147,   210 
Judah  ibn  Tibbon  (see  ibn  Tib- 

bon.  Judah) 
Judah,      Rabbi,      rab'b'i,      "The 

Prince"    (see   Judah   ha-Nasi) 
Judaism,  4,  6,  16,  26,  41,  53,  56, 

70-2,  85,  95-7,  110,  114-17,  119, 

127,   129,   132-3,   135,   146,   150, 

174-5,  180,  231,  256,  275 
"Judaism,    Jerusalem    or    Upon 

Ecclesiastical  Power  and",  275 
Judas  Maccabeus,  mac-ca-be'us, 

11,  240 

Judea,  5,  12,  26,  37,  135 
Jupiter,  worship  of,  12 
Justinian,  54 


Kant,  279 

Karaism,  ka'ra-ism,  58-63 

Karaites,  ka'ra-ites,  58-63 

Khuzistan,  ku-zis-tan',  81 

Kiev,  ki-ef,  71 

"Kingly  Crown,  the",  75 

Kings,   Persian,   51 

Knights  of  the  Cross,  152 

Koran,  ko-ran',  52-3,  58,  96 

Kostnitz,   164 

Kurdistan,    koor-di-stan',    225-26 


Latin,  70,  75,  99,  104,  121,  237 
Lavater,  la-va'ter,  270-1,  273 
Law  of  Moses,  6,  27,  178 
Law.    the     (see    also     Law    of 

Moses),  3,  5,  6,  7,  13,  15,  20, 

22,  23,  27,  39,  44,  52,  114,  116, 

127,  202 

Law,  oral,  115,  210 
Legends,  140-1,  226 
Leon  of  Modena,  202     .,.,.. 
Lessing,   Gotthold   Ephraim,  112, 

265-267 
Levant,  islands  of  the.  le-vant', 

81 
Levita.  Elijah,  la-vi'-ta,  199 


"Light  of  the  Exile"   (see  Ger- 

shom  ben  Judah) 
"Light  of  the   Exile"    (see  also 

Meir  ben   Baruch  of  Rothen- 

burg) 

"Light  of  the  Lord",  175 
Literature,   70 
Literature,  Arabic,  84,  91 
Literature,  Castilian,  91 
Liturgy     (see     also     Penitential 

Days),  40,  72,  75,  85,  92,  116, 

136,  202,  235 
Lombardy,  166 
London,  155,  241,  244 
Longfellow,  poems  of,  45 
Luria,  Isaac,  lu'ri-a,  217-23 

M 

Maccabees,  4 
Maccabeus   (see  Judas) 
Maimonides,    mi-mon'i-des    (see 

Moses  ben  Maimon) 
Maimonists    and    Anti-Maimon- 

ists,  nn'mon-ists,  122 
Mainz,    mintz    (see    also    May- 

ence) 
Manasseh   ben    Israel,   226,    233- 

45,  253,  275 
Maranos,     ma-ra'nos,     172,     173, 

183,  187-8,  189,  195,  205-6,  226, 

233,  244 

Mar  Samuel  (see  Samuel,  Mar) 
Mary,  Queen  of  England,  233 
Mary,    Queen    of    Netherlands, 

206 

Mathematics,  84,  104-11,  115,202 
Mayence,      ma-yans',     138,     140, 

141,  164 
Mecca,  51,  53 
Medicine,  70,  91,  111,  126 
Mediterranean.  4 
Meir    ben     Baruch,    ma'ir    ben 

ba-ruch',   of    Rothenburg,    150, 

163-69 

Meir  ben   Samuel,   146 
Meir,  ma'ir,  Rabbi,  19-26,  31,210 
Mendelssohn,    Moses,    122,    259, 

262-80 
Mendesia,     Gracia,     men-da'si-a, 

gra'thl-a,  206 

"Merchant  of  Venice",  243 
Mesopotamia,  81 


Index. 


291 


Messiah,    11,    13,    114,    116,    131- 

33,  173,  179,  189-199,  218,  219, 

223,  224-32,  23S,  260 
Metaphysics,  84 
Middlesex,  Lord,  241 
Midrash,  mid'rash,   144 
Millenium,    mil-len'i-um,    130 
Minister,  72 
Miquez,  Joao,  mi'keth,    zho-oun 

(see  Nasi,  Joseph) 
Mirabeau,  mi  ra-bo,  236 
Miracles,   140,   179 
Mirandola.    Pico    della.    mi-ran' 

do-la  pi'co  (see  Pico) 
Mishnah,    mish'na,   31,   32-6,   39- 

42,   114-5,   119,   147,  210,  214 
"Mishneh   Torah",   mish-na'  to- 

ra',   116-18,  210 
Modena,  mo-da'na,  202,  235 
Mohammed,  51-5,   110,   116,  231, 

260 
Mohammedan,    52,    56,    58,    63, 

68-9,    85,    88,   90,   96,   99,    104, 

109,  111,  114,  119,  121,123,138, 

170,  188,  205,  226,  230,  260, 266 
Mohammedanism,    72,    110,    115, 

188,  231 

Molcho.   Solomon,   mol'ko    (see 

Pires,  Diopro) 
Montpelier,  82 
Moors,  69,  78,  90,  190 
"Moreh  Nebuchim,"  mo-ra'  ne- 

bu-chlm',  119-22,  124,  127 
Moses,  99,   116,   120-1,   123,   179, 

219 

Moses  ben   Enoch,  67-9,  72 
Moses    ben     Maimon,    mi'mon, 

109-11,   129,   135-6,    175-7,    180, 

209,  211,  253,  257,  260,  263-4 
Moses  ben  Nachman,  nach'man, 

126-36,  173,  219,  277 
Moses  ibn   Ezra   (see  ibn   Ezra, 

Moses) 

Moses,  law  of,  6,  27,  178 
Moslems.  52-3,  55,  65,  70,  85,  97, 

189,  201,  225-26,  229,  260 
Munk,  Solomon,  75    . 
Murder,  ritual,  152 
Muslim,  mus'lim,  52 
Mysticism  (see  also  Cabala  and 

Zohar),    128-9,    135,    197,    202, 
214-15,  217-21,  226-29,  231,239 


N 


Nachmanides,        nach-man'i-des 

(see  Moses^ben  Nachman) 
Nagid,  na-gid',  72 
Naples,  197,  199 
Nasi,  38 

Nasi,  Joseph,  na'si,  205-8 
"Nathan   the   Wise",   112,   265-6, 

272 

Navigators,  195 
Naxos,  Duke  of,  207-8 
Nehardea,  39,  41,  42 
Nebuchadnezzar,  ne-bu-kad-nez' 

zar,  37,  242 
Netherlands  (see  also  Holland), 

206,  234 

New   Christians    (see   Maranos) 
New  Moon,  41 

Nicopolis,    ni-cop'o-lis,    208,    215 
Nile,  the,  220 
Noah,  179 
Numbers,  11 
Nuremberg,  164 


Occupations,  82,  137,  150-1,  157- 
9,  170,  192,  194-5.  205,  234-5, 
242,  255,  259,  262-4,  274,  278- 
80 

"Or  Adonai",  or  a-do-ni',   175 

"O  Soul  with  Storms  Beset",  77 

Ottoman    Empire,   194 


Pablo  (see  Christiani) 
Palestine,  7,  8,   10,  27,  36,  37-9, 

41,   42,   44,   81,    103.    111.    135, 

151,  167,  207.  209,  210.  220.224 
Papal   States,  207 
Parliament,     English,    226,    240, 

241,  244 
Paris,  199 

Passover,  13,  152,  243 
Paul  IV,  Pope,  201,  207 
Pentateuch,    60,     104,     129,    219, 

277,  278 
Penitential   Days,  81 


292 


Index. 


Persecutions  (see  also  Accusa- 
tions. Badge,  Burning  of 
Books.  Disputations,  Expul- 
sion, Ghetto.  Inquisition,  Jew 
sign,  and  Restrictions),  68, 
110,  150,  154-5,  156-7,  158-9, 
165,  168,  171-2,  173,  183-6,200- 
2,  234-5,  243,  259-62 

Persia,  1,  69,  81 

Persians,  52 

"Phaedon",  269 

Pharaoh,  242 

Pharisees.   15 

Philanthropy,  160-1,  208,  234 

Philip  II,  233 

Philo,  62,  65-6,  74,  75,  119 

Philology,  fi-161'o-gy,  64,  129 

Philosophy,  15,  64,  65,  70,  74, 
80,  84,  85,  90,  91,  95,  104,  126, 
127,  253,  255,  256,  257 

Physicians,  91,  112,  113,  131,  ISO, 
173,  206 

Physics,  115 

Pico  della  Mirandola,  pi'co  del' 
la  miran'do-la,  197 

Pilgrims,  99,  135 

Pires,  Diogo,  pi'res,  di-6'go,  227 

Pisa,  pi'sa,  82 

Pius  V,  207 

Plato,  75,  85,  95,  119 

Poems,  72,  74,  75,  91,  92,  102, 
168,  203 

Poetry,  70,  81,  84,  147,  219 

Poets,  70,  72,  75,  78,  90,  91,  93, 
136,  168,  198,  202 

Poland,   157,  228,  234,  264 

Polish,   157 

Polygamy,  139 

Popes,  134,  152,  154,  188,  197, 
200,  233 

Portugal,  190,  197,  205,  208,  226, 
234,  244,  247-8 

Prague,  140 

Prayerbook  (see  Liturgy) 

"Prepared  Table",  211-4 

Press,  Hebrew  Printing,  237 

Priests,  153 

"Princess  Sabbath",  161 

Prophecy,  120 

Prophets,  133 

Protestants,  208,  233 

Proverbs,  Book  of,  72 


Prussia,  268 

Pumbeditha,    pum-ba-di'tha,    39, 

42,  56,  57,  65,  68,  138-9 
Purim,  19,  102 
Puritans,  227,  239,  240 


Rab,  rib  (Abba  Areka),  39,  40, 
41,  42 

Rabbenu,  rab-ba'nu  (see  Ger- 
shom  ben  Judah) 

Rabbenu  Tarn,  rab-ba'nu  tarn 
(see  Jacob  ben  Meir  Tarn) 

"Rabbi  ben  Ezra",  106 

Rabbinites,  59,  60 

Rabbis,  Babylonian,  67 

Rabbis,  French,  117,  127 

Rabbis,  Palestinian,  117 

Rabbis,  Spanish,  117 

Rabina,  ra-bi'na,  42,  43,  210 

Rachel.  13 

Ram  (see  Meir  ben  Samuel) 

Rashbam.  rash-bam'  (see  Sam- 
uel ben  Meir) 

Rashi,  105,   137-50,  169,  211,277 

Rashi  Chapel,  141 

Recha,  266 

"Redemption,  A  Song  of",  76 

Reforms,   religious,  202 

Rembrandt,  238 

"Repetition  of  the  Law,"  117, 
118 

Republics,  Italian,   158 

Resettlement,  Jewish,  in  Eng- 
land, 244 

Resh  Galutha,  rash  ga-lu'tha,  38 

Responsa,  56,  114,  117,  141,  164- 
5,  168,  210 

Restrictions,   273 

Reubeni,    David,    ra-u-ba'ni,    226 

Rhetoric,  124 

Rhine,  145.  165 

Ribam.  ri'bam  (see  Isaac  ben 
Meir) 

Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  112, 
154 

Ritual  Murder  (see  Murder, 
ritual) 

Romans,  1-3,  12,  24,  152,  154, 
224 


Index. 


293 


Rome,  1,  2,  10,  11,  13,  24,  37,  38, 

166,   199,  224 
Rossi.  Azariah  dci,  ros'si,  az-a- 

ri'a  da'i,  199 
Rothenburg,     ro'tcn-burg,      150, 

163,  164 

Rudolph,   Emperor,  166 
Russia,  60,  71 


S 


Saadia,    sa-ad'ya,    62-67,    80,    85, 

104,  106,  119,  137 
Sabbatai    Zevi,    sab-ba'tl    tse-vi' 

(see  Zevi) 
Sabbath,  59,   113,   129,   130,   161, 

220,   240,   269 
Sabbatical  Year,  28-9 
Saboraim,  sa-bo-ra'im,  51,  210 
Sacrifices,  4,  120 
Sadducees,   sad'du-sees,   57-8 
Safed,  209,  220 
Saladin,  112 
Salamanca.     Zacuto     of.     Sal-a- 

man'ca.  za-ku'to  (see  Zacuto) 
Salim,  207 
Samaritans.  12 
Samuel  ben  Meir,     ma'ir      (see 

ben  Meir) 

Samuel  ibn  Adiya,  a-di'ya,  54 
Samuel  ibn  Nagdela.    nag-da'la, 

72 

Samuel  ibn  Tibbon,  124 
Samuel,  Mar,  39 
Samuel,  the   Nagid,   na-gid',    189 
Sanhedrin.   san-hed 1'rin.    1.   2,   5, 

6,  10,  27 
Santangel,     Louis,     sant-an'gel, 

195 

Saragossa,  81,  84 
Sardinia,  189 
Savoy,  235 

"Sayings   of  the   Fathers",   213 
Scholars,  Christian,  75 
Scholars,  Jewish,  75 
Scholars,  Mohammedan,  121 
Schools.  Babylonian     (see    also 

Academies),    36,    43,    56,    137, 

139 
Schools,  Palestinian     (see    also 

Academies),  38,  43 


Schools,  secular,  278 
Schools,  Spanish,  67-8 

"Schulchan     Aruch",     shul'chan 
a-ruch',   211-14 

Sciences,   62,  64,  69,  70,  84,  91, 

111,  253 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  112,  155 
Scriptures,  canon  of  the,  15 
Seder,  sa'der.  14 
Septuagint,  15 
Severus,  Julius,  se-ve'rus.  11 
Shakespeare,    243 
Shalmanassar,      shal-man-as'sar, 

239 

Shema,  the,  she-ma',  17,  162 
Sicily,  81,   189 

Simeon  ben   Yochai,  yo-chi',  27 
Simon  ben  Gamaliel,  ga-ma-H'el, 

27 

Slaves,  67,  190 
Smyrna,  228 

Solomon  bar  Isaac  (see  Rashi) 
Solomon    ibn    Gabirol,    ga-bi'rol 
(see  ibn  Gabirol) 
"Song  of  Moses",  130 
Song  of  Songs,  15,  124 
"Songs  of  Zion",  93 
Spain,  67-9,  74,  81,  84,  90-1,  99, 

103-4,   106,   109,   111,   126,   129, 

132,  135,  137,  147-8,  150,  170- 

3,    183,    188,    190,    192-7,    205, 

208,    233,    235,   245,    247,    253, 

260 

Spanish,  237 

"Specimen  of  Human  Life",  251 
Spenser,    Edmund,   197 
Speyer,  spi'er,  151,  196 
Spinoza,   spm-6'tza,   247-58,   259. 

263 

St.  Bernard,  151 
Statesmen,  70,  72 
Strassburg,    stras'burg,    153,    156 
"Strong  Hand,  the",  116-19,  210 
Succoth.  suk-koth'.   13 
Sulaiman    II,    Sultan,    su'li-man, 

206,  207 
Sultan,    112,    113,   206,   207,   225, 

229,  230 

Superstitions,   115 
Sura,  39.  42,  56,  57,  63,  67,  70, 

71,  138,  234 


294 


Index. 


Sweden,  238 

Switzerland,  272 

Synagogues  (see  also  Congre- 
gations), 110,  111,  135,  141, 
146,  151,  153,  156,  163, 165, 191, 
192,  235,  244,  251,  254,  255 

Syria,  1,  81,  151 


"Tales.  Canterbury"  (see  "Can- 
terbury Tales") 

"Talisman",  112 

Talmud,  22,  43-7,  51,  59,  64,  70, 
71,  72,  90,  111,  115-19,  126, 
127,  129,  133,  138,  139,  143-8, 
157,  161,  167,  168,  174,  202, 
208,  210,  211,  220,  221,  237, 
263,  264 

Talmud,  Babylonian,   43 

Talmud,  Palestinian,  43 

T^lmudists   (see  Rabbinites) 

Tarn,  tarn  (see  Jacob  ben  Meir, 
Rabbenu  Tam) 

Tanna.  tan'na,  9 

Tannaim,  tan-na'im,  9,  25,  35, 
210 

"Tarshish",  80 

Tartary,  239 

Temple,  1,  4,  5,  11,  12,  92,  135 

Ten  Tribes,  lost,  of  Israel,  239 

Testament,  New,  116 

Thebes,  82 

Theologians,   Arabian,  86 

"Theologico-Political  Treatise," 
256 

"Thirteen  Articles  of  Faith," 
115,  177-80 

Tibbon  Family  (see  also  Judah 
ibn  Tibbon  and  Samuel  ibn 
Tibbon),  124 

Tiberias,  207 

Titus.  11 

Torah.  the  (see  also  Law,  the), 
16,  70,  90,  98,  105,  116,  117, 
119,  127,  130,  192,  208,  229 

Tortosa,  tor-to'sa,  173-4 

Tosafists,  to'sa-fists,   146,   167 

Tosafot,  to-sa-fot',  146 

Tosefta,   to-sef'ta,   146 

Torquemada,  tor-ka-ma'tha,  189, 
191,  195,  233 


Trajan,  10 

Translators,   85,    104,   124,  277-8 

Traveler,  81-2 

Trinity,   116 

Troyes,  trwa,  112,  139,  141,  143 

Tunis,   67 

"Turim",     tu-rim'     (see     "Arba 

Turim") 
Turkey,  60,  145,  205-8,  227,  229, 

233 

Tuscany,  197 
Tyre,  82 


U 


Universities,  70 

"Upon    Mendelssohn    and    the 

Political  Reform  of  the  Jews". 

276 
"Upon    the    Civil    Amelioration 

of  the  Condition  of  the  Jews". 

273 
Uriel     Da     Costa,    yu'ri-el     da 

cos'ta  (see  Da  Costa) 


Venice,    198,   200,   202,   203,   206 

207 

Vespasian.  3.  11.  12 
Vienna,  275 
"Vindiciae  Judaeorum,"  wm-dik' 

i-I  yu-di-6'rum,  243,  275 
Vital,   Chaim,  vi'tal,  cha'im,  221 
Vizier,  vi-zer',  70,  74 


W 

Wasserburg,  vas'ser-burg,   166 
Wessely,  Hartwig,  278 
Westminster,  154 
William  of  Orange,  233 
Wordsworth,  poems  of,  218 
Worms,   140,   141,   156,   163,  164, 

167 
Wurzburg,  180 


Index.  295 


Y  Zadok.  Rabbi,  za'dok.  8 

Zangwill,   Israel,  stories  of,  202 
"Yad  Hachazakah",  yad  ha-cha-      Zealots,  zeTots,  3.  7 

za-ka',  117-19  Zevi.   Sabbatai.   ze-vi',   sab-ba'tl, 

Yemen,  81  223,   228-31 

Zephaniah,  244 
Z  Zion,  2,  12,  37,  223 

"Zohar",    zo-har,    219,    220,   223, 
Zacuto    of    Salamanca,    za-ku'to          227 
of  sal-a-man'ca,  194  Zurich,  270 


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